19 


F      594.M82 
Life  of  a  rover,  1865-1926, 


3    =1153    00531^73    M 


& 


s 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2011  with  funding  from 

LYRASIS  members  and  Sloan  Foundation 


http://www.archive.org/details/lifeofrover1865100mood 


THE  LIFE  OF  A  ROVER 

-^         1865  to  1926 

By  D.  W.  MOODY,  Author  and  Publisher 

Known  in  Early  Western  Life  as 
DAN  MOODY,  The  INDIAN  SCOUT 

A  Revelation 

COVER 
A  NEW  BOOK  OF  THRILLS  FROM    TO 

COVER 


The  Author 


<#«WW^ 


r 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


IT  WAS  not  dreamed  of  by  those  who  knew  me  in  early  life  on  the 
western  plains  that  I  was  making  history  which  might  some  day  be 
entitled  to  a  place  in  the  library  of  the  humblest  and  greatest  homes 
for  the  years  to  come.  I  permitted  a  few  learned  writers  to  read  ten  pages 
of  my  crudely  written  copy.  They  each  and  every  one  advised  me  to 
publish  this  book,  not  only  my  early  experiences  while  employed  as  an 
Indian  scout,  but  also  to  publish  the  history  of  my  life,  at  least  since  the 
early  spring  of  1865,  including  my  experiences  while  employed  as  a 
roustabout  with  a  surveying  outfit  surveying  the  lands  granted  to  the 
U.  P.  Railroad,  granted  or  given  to  the  builders  of  that  road  .through 
Utah. 

I  have  written  my  very  thrilling,  revelating  experiences  while  dealing 
with  the  Mormon  people,  which  you  will  read  in  another  part  of  this 
book,  and  I  believe  some  of  you  will  wish  you  had  been  the  roustabout 
with  that  outfit. 

I  do  not  know  much  about  my  family  at  this  time  as  most  of  them 
have  had  very  little  use  for  me  the  last  thirty-five  years  or  more  because 
I  suppose  they  thought  I  was  too  much  of  a  Rover,  and  I  will  admit 
they  are  right,  but  it  is  not  a  real  family  who  does  not  have  at  least 
one  bad  kid  in  the  bunch.  My  people  say  I  have  been  endowed  with 
more  talent  than  any  other  member  of  the  family,  yet  they  say  I  will 
never  make  any  money  because  I  am  roving  from  place  to  place,  and, 
while  I  think  of  it,  I  will  say  that  I  have  been  married  four  times 
while  none  of  my  other  brothers  have  ever  been  able  to  get  but  one 
wife,  and  I  tell  them  that  the  ladies  know  them  too  well.  My  younger 
brother's  wife  died  some  twenty-five  years  ago,  and  he  is  still  single, 
and  he  has  lived  by  his  lonesome  in  one  place  and  I  suppose  he  in 
some  way  has  allowed  the  word  to  get  out  that  he  is  a  little  cranky  and 
hasn't  even  as  much  as  a  bad  cough.  I  have  been  told  by  travelers  who 
say  they  have  met  my  youngest  brother  that  he  once  owned  large  herds' 
of  cattle  on  the  plains  of  Texas,  but  since  he  has  retired  he  tells  nothing 
about  himself  to  friends  or  foes.  Since  I  have  traveled  over  many 
countries  and  over  most  of  the  seas,  it  is  now  a  pleasure  to  recall  many  of 
the  things  I  have  seen  and  done  myself  while  roving  the  world  over. 
I  have  never  before  writing  this  book  been  able  to  cash  in  on  my  past 
experiences  and  I  surely  would  have  lost  this  chance  if  I  had  not  been 
bullet-proof,  because  I  really  have  been  in  danger  many  times.  Even  one 
who  said  she  was  my  best  friend  took  a  shot  at  me  and  on  two  other 
occasions  I  was  taken  for  another  man  and  had  my  hat  shot  off. 


The  Indians  quite  a  few  times  sent  me  into  camp  with  arrows  hanging 
to  my  clothing  and  holes  shot  through  my  hat,  but  the  closest  they  ever 
came  to  getting  me  was  sending  a  bullet  through  one  side  of  my  boot, 
which  made  a  red  spot  and  cut  a  little  hair  off  my  horses  lower  fore 
shoulder. 


[2] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


The  Indians  we  must  concede,  owned  all  the  lands  of  the  western 
plains  and  they  also  owned  the  water  and  the  timber,  the  wild  game 
which  was  in  evidence  on  every  hand,  and  while  they  did  not  cultivate 
the  land  they  wanted  it,  because  on  the  land  grew  food  for  their  wild 
cattle  and  horses,  and  also  for  the  wild  game. 

The  Indians  did  not  care  much  for  the  fishes,  which  were  in  abun- 
dance in  all  the  streams,  the  valuable  timber  was  of  no  use  so  far  as  the 
Indian  knew,  except  as  a  shade  in  the  summer,  and  a  winter  shelter  for 
their  wild  game  and  animals. 

The  Indians  were  always  at  war — that  is  to  say,  one  tribe  would 
declare  war  against  the  other  on  the  slightest  pretense  of  insult  to  a  squaw 
or  their  chief.  What  did  the  Indians  live  on? — a  question  I  have  been 
asked  many  times,  and  what  did  they  do  for  clothing?  The  Indians 
lived  mostly  on  wild  meat,  they  killed  deer,  antelope,  elk  and  buffalo,  and 
they  sometimes  picked  the  wild  berries  and  dried  them — they  also  dried 
the  meat  of  the  wild  animals. 

They  set  traps  and  caught  the  beaver,  the  mink,  the  foxes,  the 
muskrat  and  otters,  and  dressed  their  hides,  then  made  clothing  and 
bedding.  The  large  fine  buffalo  robe  was  very  popular  as  a  bed  cover, 
then  too,  they  tanned  both  sides  of  the  buffalo  skins  and  built  houses 
out  of  them.  They  made  the  moccasin  or  shoes  out  of  hides  which 
they  tanned  themselves.  Sometimes  for  winter  wear  they  lined  their 
moccasins  with  fur.  The  Indians  had  a  way  of  tanning  hides  so  they 
would  turn  water  and  also  hold  water,  for  example:  they  often,  when 
moving,  would  make  a  sack,  we  would  call  it,  which  would  hold  twenty- 
five  gallons  of  water  and  not  leak  a  drop.  Their  bed  was  most  always 
made  on  the  ground,  while  in  some  cases  they  drove  posts  in  the  ground, 
tied  a  few  willow  poles  to  the  posts,  then  some  strips  of  rawhide  across 
the  poles  which  we  would  call  a  bed  spring. 

Indian  men  were  called  bucks.  They  never  worked  except  to  kill 
the  game,  the  squaws  did  all  the  work.  Of  course  the  bucks  put  in 
a  lot  of  time  studying  war  and  how  they  could  destroy  the  enemy  be- 
cause there  was  no  such  thing  as  contentment  among  them  until  the 
white  man  came  into  their  midst  and  commenced  building  homes  and 
stealing  their  lands,  as  they  called  it,  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  it  was  stealing 
because  the  white  man  who  was  taking  up  a  homestead  did  not  consult 
the  Indian  who  really  owned  the  land  but  he  made  a  contract  with  the 
United  States  Government  to  buy  the  land  on  such  terms  as  they  agreed 
on  and  when  these  early  homesteaders  settled  on  a  tract  of  land  it  most 
always  controlled  valuable  springs  or  water  of  some  kind  which  the  In- 
dians wanted  for  their  own  use  so  when  this  state  of  affairs  went  on  for  a 
while  the  many  Tribes  of  Indians  became  friendly  with  each  other  and 
all  joined  together  and  declared  war  under  no  flag.  It  was  to  be  war 
for  revenge  and  against  all  white  men  and  their  families.  Most  all  the 
homesteaders  were  fairly  well  armed  so  far  as  the  armament  went  in  those 


[3] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


days  but  as  the  early  settlements  were  in  bunches  here  and  there  generally 
a  half  dozen  families  in  a  group  and  sometimes  only  one  and  in  every 
settlement  the  homesteaders  exchanged  work  with  one  and  the  other 
because  they  had  no  money  to  hire  help,  and  there  was  none  to  hire. 
Any  man  who  wanted  to  live  in  such  a  locality  would  of  course  take  up 
a  homestead  for  himself  because  there  was  plenty  of  the  most  fertile 
land  one  could  find  anywhere  in  the  world. 

The  Indians  often  pretended  to  be  friendly  with  the  homesteaders 
that  they  might  learn  when  would  be  their  best  chance  to  find  the  home- 
steader away  from  home  so  that  they  or  another  band  of  Indians  might 
swoop  down  on  his  family  and  kill  the  elder  women  and  carry  away  the 
grown-up  girls  or  if  the  wife  was  under  forty  they  often  took  her  also 
and  sometimes  the  Indians  would  kill  the  children  and  of  course  they 
stole  all  the  cattle  and  horses  and  carried  away  every  ounce  of  provisions, 
yes,  they  generally  burned  the  house  and  the  outbuildings.  The  Govern- 
ment did  establish  many  small  forts  or  posts,  as  they  were  sometimes 
called,  but  these  Forts  were  as  a  rule,  many  miles  from  the  settlements; 
then  too,  there  were  only  a  few  small  companies  of  soldiers  at  each  Fort 
and  before  a  report  reached  the  Fort  the  Indians  were  many  miles  away. 

I  will  give  you  a  full  report  concerning  at  least  one  case  where  the 
mother  was  killed  and  the  two  oldest  girls  were  carried  away  with  their 
hair  tied  to  ponies  tails. 

I  have  quite  often  been  requested,  when  visiting  at  homes  where 
there  were  several  grown-up  boys,  to  relate  some  Indian  stories,  and  if 
these  boys  got  me  started  telling  Indian  stories  they  and  their  parents 
would  never  tire  listening  to  me,  and  that  is  one  of  the  reasons  why  I 
am  writing  this  book  because  I  want  the  young  lads  to  read  and  then  they 
will  not  want  to  fight  Indians  but  to  simply  hear  a  short  story.  The 
lad  generally  says,  "I  wish  I  had  been  big  in  the  early  settlement  of  the 
West,  I  would  have  been  an  Indian  scout,"  but  when  he  reads  this  book 
through,  the  lad  will  say  he  would  rather  stay  home  with  mamma,  papa 
and  his  brothers  and  sisters. 

Listen  boys,  the  duty  of  an  Indian  scout  is  one  of  great  danger, 
because  the  Indians  know  he  is  generally  the  cause  of  their  many  de- 
feats and  they  soon  learn  that  the  scout  may  be  near  them  when  they 
are  preparing  to  make  a  dash  to  stampede  a  herd  of  cattle  or  mules 
because  they  or  some  of  them  have  seen  the  scout  on  the  high  hill  tops 
and  that  he  might  have  seen  them  with  his  powerful  eyes  as  they  call 
field  glasses.  The  Indians  are  always  trying  to  draw  the  scout  into  a  trap 
so  they  can  get  him  with  arrows  and  I  have  heard  of  a  few  scouts  who 
allowed   themselves  to  be  led  into  their  traps  and  I,   myself,  have  come 


[4] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


close  to  getting  caught  but  my  wonderful  endurance  and  my  well-trained 
horse,  who  loved  me  as  a  mother  loves  her  baby,  carried  me  through  the 
danger,  and  also  considering  the  fact  that  I  was  rated  by  the  Indians  as 
being  a  sure  shot,  whether  my  foe  was  ten  yards  away  or  a  half-mile,  and 
a  few  times  I  have  fired  at  Indians  a  mile  away  with  my  Henry  rifle  and 
dropped  the  redskins.  My  horse  could  smell  an  Indian  and  when  they 
were  hidden  close  in  front  of  us  he  would  stop  and  did  on  more  than 
one  occasion  refuse  to  go  forward  until  the  Indians  were  in  sight  and  I 
believe  he  knew  that  they  would  scatter  and  give  us  a  chance  to  get  through 
as  soon  as  my  Henry  rifle  started  action.  If  my  horse  was  standing  still 
when  I  was  under  fire,  he  hardly  drew  a  breath  and  if  he  was  on  the  dead 
run  and  I  was  firing  my  rifle  or  pistol  he  seemed  to  be  extra  careful  not 
to  wabble  his  body  as  horses  often  do  when  running  at  full  speed;  then, 
too,  when  we  came  to  ditch  or  gulley  if  I  was  busy,  he  would  increase 
his  speed  a  few  jumps  before  he  reached  the  ditch,  just  as  I  had  trained 
him  when  I  was  not  in  action.  My  horse  always  said,  "Good  Morning," 
when  we  met  early  in  the  morning.  Boys,  if  you  ever  own  a  horse,  be 
kind  and  rub  him  plenty,  and  he  will  soon  learn  to  love  you,  but  you 
must  never  lose  your  temper  and  scold  him  or  use  the  whip.  If  you  do, 
he  will  lose  confidence  in  you  and  will  never  forget  that  you  are  not  a 
true  friend.  You  can't  do  that  with  a  woman,  because  she  has  a  right, 
so  she  claims,  to  change  her  mind;  to  love  you  one  day  and  to  hell  with 
you  the  next  day.  You  don't  find  a  horse  that  way,  once  a  friend  always 
a  friend  until  you  abuse  or  neglect  him  and  cause  him  to  lose  respect 
for  you. 

Those  who  live  close  to  God  and  attend  church  regularly  and  see 
that  their  children  attend  Sunday  School,  not  now  and  then,  but  every 
Sunday,  all  the  whipping  and  scolding  a  parent  can  give  a  child  is  worth- 
less, unless  you  see  to  it  that  they  associate  with  the  class  who  never  use 
the  Lord's  name  in  vain.  I  believe  in  the  curfew  law,  it  should  be 
enforced  to  the  letter,  and  if  there  are  no  curfew  laws,  the  parent  should 
say  to  their  children,  "You  must  retire  not  later  than  9:00  P.  M.,"  and 
when  such  an  order  is  made  by  a  parent,  it  should  be  enforced. 

In  another  part  of  this  book  you  will  read  about,  one  year  I  was 
in  Utah  where  the  word  of  a  parent  was  without  demurr,  and  I  believe 
this  state  of  affairs  was  brought  about  because  every  child  attended  Sunday 
School  and  the  church  also.  We  often  hear  people  say  they  have  so 
many  children  that  they  cannot  watch  them  all,  but  the  Mormon  men, 
or  most  of  them,  had  many  wives  and  several  houses  full  of  children. 
I  remember  asking  one  bishop  how  many  wives  he  had  and  he  said  he 
had  only  twelve  then,  that  some  of  his  wives  had  died;  he  also  stated  his 
living  children  numbered  over  thirty  and  they  were  all  obedient  to  their 
parents. 


5  1 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


MY  EARLY  BOYHOOD  EXPERIENCE 
In  the  spring  of  1857  my  father  moved  from  Missouri  to  Kansas  and 
settled  near  the  then  small  village  of  DeSota  and  I  believe  it  is  still  only 
a  small  village;  however,  the  country  was  wild,  homesteaders  were  miles 
apart.  Father  settled  on  the  bank  of  a  small  stream  of  water  called  Deer 
Creek,  there  was  timber  along  the  bank  of  the  creek  and  there  were  some 
small  fish  to  be  caught  by  one  willing  to  sit  on  the  bank  an  hour  or  so 
to  catch  a  perch  three  or  four  inches  long,  and  being  willing  to  take  such 
a  chance  I  went  fishing  and  did  catch  two  small  perch  but  after  I  had 
made  them  fast  to  a  string  and  dropped  them  back  in  the  water  I  dis- 
covered a  large  deer  looking  at  me.  He  was  only  about  fifty  yards  away 
and  of  course  I  wanted  to  get  him  but  I  had  no  gun  and  I  said,  "Johnnie 
get  your  gun."  I  dropped  my  fish-pole  and  started  for  home  to  get  a  gun. 
I  soon  returned  and  the  deer  was  not  in  sight  but  I  noticed  my  two  small 
fish  seemed  to  have  grown  to  be  several  times  the  size  they  were  when  I 
put  them  in  the  water.  I  pulled  them  out  of  the  water  and  found  a  mud 
cat  fish  had  swallowed  them.  This  is  what  a  fisherman  would  call  luck. 
The  catfish  was  over  a  foot  long  and  I  got  him  and  my  two  small  perch 
but  the  deer  was  gone,  so  I  went  home  and  my  dad  said,  "Go  back  and 
find  that  deer,  we  are  out  of  meat,"  but,  I  said,  "He  has  gone  and  I  know 
not  where  to  find  him."  Dad  said,  "You  must  find  him,  we  are  out  of 
meat,  and  you  must  'bring  home  the  bacon',"  we  would  call  it  now-a-days. 
I  picked  up  dad's  old  long  Tom  rifle  and  started  for  the  deer.  I  knew 
there  were  other  deer  there  about  and  thought  I  might  find  the  one  which 
I  had  seen  or  another  one.  I  walked  and  walked  and  finally  made  up  my 
mind  to  return  home  without  a  deer,  but  when  I  got  back  near  the  spot 
where  I  had  seen  this  big,  fine  deer  standing,  I  sat  down  on  a  log  wonder- 
ing why  I  had  met  with  such  bad  luck.  I  had  only  to  wait  a  few 
moments  before  I  noticed- the  brush  moving  a  hundred  yards  away,  so  I 
dropped  down  behind  the  log  I  was  sitting  on  and  in  a  moment  a  big, 
fine  deer  walked  out  of  the  brush  and  turned  around  broadsided.  I  slipped 
long  Tom  over  the  top  of  the  log,  and  after  looking  through  the  sight  I 
touched  the  trigger  and  my  big  deer  dropped  down  on  his  knees.  I  ran 
home  and  dad  said,  "Have  you  got  the  meat?"  "No,  but  I  have  it  where 
you  can  get  it." 

We  soon  brought  my  big  deer  in  and  there  was  plenty  of  meat  for 
a  week,  because  he  weighed  over  140  pounds,  dressed. 


[6] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


WOLVES  BY  THE  THOUSAND 

A  week  or  so  later  dad  said  to  me  that  I  should  go  with  him  to  a 
neighbor  who  was  killing  a  beef  and  dad  was  to  get  a  quarter  of  the 
meat.  I  was  told  to  put  two  shotguns  in  the  wagon  and  other  fire  arms, 
and  also  two  axes.  Dad  said  it  might  be  dark  before  we  returned,  and 
that  the  wolves  were  very  bad.  He  said,  if  the  wind  came  up  the  wolves 
would  smell  the  fresh  meat  and  follow  us  in  droves  and  it  was  getting 
dark  when  we  were  about  three  miles  away  from  home  on  our  return. 
The  wolves  commenced  howling  and  soon  they  were  in  evidence  on 
every  side  of  us.  Dad  stopped  the  team  and  looked  the  ground  over,  he 
then  said  to  me  that  we  had  better  drive  at  full  speed  for  another  mile 
and  then  turn  our  guns  on  them.  But  we  were  only  permitted  to  travel 
a  half-mile  until  we  could  see  many  big  and  little  wolves  in  front  of  us. 
We  stopped  the  team  and  shot  a  dozen  or  more  of  them  and  as  soon  as  a 
wolf  would  fall,  killed,  or  wounded,  the  others  would  devour  him  and 
in  this  way  we  traveled  until  we  were  within  a  half  mile  of  our  home. 
The  wolves  then  were  about  us  not  by  the  dozens  but  by  the  hundred, 
and  they  were  so  determined  to  get  our  fresh  meat  that  they  climbed  into 
our  wagon  and  ran  in  front  of  our  horse.  I  believe  we  killed  more  than 
fifty  with  axes  as  they  were  climbing  into  the  wagon.  We  finally  reached 
home  but  we  had  to  keep  on  shooting  them  until  a  late  hour  and  only 
for  the  fact  that  our  fence  was  several  feet  high  they  might  have  killed 
our  entire  family  and  every  head  of  stock  about  the  place. 

My  dad  soon  got  discouraged  trying  to  farm  or  raise  stock,  because 
the  wolves  would  keep  up  such  a  howling  most  all  night  and  if  a  calf 
or  a  colt  got  out  of  sight  they  were  torn  to  pieces. 

WE  MOVED  BACK  TO  CARROLTON,  MISSOURI 

On  the  24th  day  of  December,  1860,  father  died  and  was  buried  on 
Christmas  Day.  The  great 'war  of  the  rebellion  was  in  sight,  the  fire 
was  burning,  and  the  people  were  talking  about  which  side  each  would 
be  on  and  as  there  were  many  slaveholders  thereabout  and  John  Brown 
or  his  gang  were  stealing  slaves  and  carrying  them  over  the  line  into 
Kansas  and  it  was  said  by  many  that  slaves  were  stolen  from  one  master 
and  carried  a  hundred  miles  away  and  sold  to  another  master. 

SPRING  OF  1861 

Armed  men  were  to  be  seen  at  every  turn  and  it  was  hard  to  tell 
which  side  they  were  representing  and  as  the  war  went  on  these  conditions 
went  on  from  bad  to  worse  and  the  negroes  of  course  wanted  to  be  free 
and  their  owners  wanted  to  keep  them. 

My  mother  was  a  hard  worker  and  generally  called  a  good  manager, 
but  it  was  hard  for  her  to  make  both  ends  meet,  because  all  our  stock, 
like  cattle,  horses,  chickens,  pigs  and  the  like,  were  taken  by  one  side  or 
the  other.  When  a  band  of  armed  men  came  to  our  place  they  took 
anything  and  everything  in  sight,  and  if  one  demurred  with  them  they 
would  touch  a  match  to  the  house  and  in  some  cases  they  would  stand  by 
until  everything  was  burned  to  the  ground  while  in  a  few  cases  they  did 
allow  occupants  to  put  out  the  fire. 

[7] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 

OUR  HOME  WAS  FINALLY  BURNED 
Mother  moved  to  Nebraska  City,  Neb.     I  hired  out  as  a  bullwhacker 
to  drive  a  freight  team. 

WHAT  IS  A  BULLWHACKER  OR  A  MULE  SKINNER? 
A  bullwhacker  is  a  man  who  can  drive  an  ox  team  and  a  mule  skinner 
is  a  man  who  can  drive  a  mule  team.     A  black  snake  is  a  whip  which  is 
generally  used  by  a  wagon  master  or  any  man  who  rides  a  horse  when 
he  is  driving  a  team  or  driving  loose  cattle  or  mules. 

OUR  FAMILY  WAS  BADLY  BROKEN  UP 
At  the  close  of  the  War  of  the  Rebellion,  two  of  my  brothers  lost  their 
lives  in  the  war  and  another  had  made  his  way  into  Colorado.  There 
were  myself,  a  younger  brother  and  two  sisters.  Mother  was  nearly 
worn  out  but  she  recovered  her  health  and  lived  to  a  good  old  age.  My 
younger  brother  finally  drifted  into  western  Texas  and  married  and  later 
went  into  the  cattle  business  and  I  am  told  that  he  became  quite  wealthy. 

None  of  my  family,  of  late  years,  have  cared  much  about  me,  because 
of  my  roving  about  from  place  to  place  which  I  know  has  been  a  great 
mistake  but  I  do  not  believe  we  can  all  be  born  wise.  There  must  be  at 
least  one  bad  kid  in  every  family,  of  any  size,  and  I  sometimes  think  if 
the  wise  members  of  a  family  would  speak  to  the  wayward  brother  or 
sister,  using  kind  words  instead  of  harsh  words,  that  it  might  be  a  better 
plan.  I,  for  one,  know  that  kind  words  have  great  influence  over  me 
while  a  charge  by  a  supposed  friend  that  I  was  doing  this  or  that  and 
unless  I  got  busy  and  settled  down  that  I  would  soon  have  no  friends. 
I  have  never  been  charged  with  stealing  or  robbing  or  anything  like  that, 
but  simply  moving  about  from  place  to  place  which  I  know  is  the  wrong 
thing  to  do.  Most  everybody  knows  a  rover,  and  at  the  .same  time  if 
he  should  ever  need  money  and  wanted  to  borrow  a  few  hundred  dollars, 
I  believe  he  would  soon  find  that  nobody  knew  him  no  matter  how 
honest  he  had  been  throughout  his  life,  while  the  man  who  was  born 
in  one  of  our  small  villages,  or  in  a  large  city,  and  lived  there  until  grown 
up  could  borrow  more  money  without  security  than  a  rover  could  borrow 
with  Government  bonds  as  security,  because  there  is  no  one  who  will  step 
up  and  say  a  good  word  for  a  stranger. 

IF  I  COULD  LIVE  MY  LIFE  OVER 
It  would  be  on  a  farm  because  I  know  now  that  since  I  have  traveled 
over  many  seas  and  through  most  of  the  foreign  countries  that  all  I  have 
ever  learned,  seen  or  heard  about,  would  not  buy  me  a  meal  in  a  fifteen- 
cent  restaurant. 


[8] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A      ROVER 


ITS  WHAT  OTHER  PEOPLE  THINK  OF  US  THAT  COUNTS 
Remember  this,  it's  true.  We  can  all  see  the  other  fellows  faults,  but 
we  have  none.  We  often  hear  people  say  if  they  had  a  chance  they 
could  do  things  better  than  other  people  and  while  you  are  thinking  about 
it  we  have  the  same  chance,  but  we  do  not  have  the  talent,  and  many 
of  us  have  talent,  yet  we  stand  around  telling  what  a  darned  chump  some 
other  fellow  is  until  the  chump  makes  a  fortune  and  we  have  nothing  but 
experience  which  the  chump  turned  aside  but  he  did  grab  the  opportunity 
and  put  his  shoulder  to  the  wheel  and  pushed  it  to  success. 

My  friend,  I  do  not  say  all  men  who  make  a  big  fortune  are  honest — 
No,  not  by  a  long  ways,  nor  do  I  believe  there  are  but  few  men  who  have 
made  large  fortunes  believe  themselves  that  they  own  an  honest  dollar. 

The  great  concentration  of  money  must  stop  soon  or  we  will  have  no 
circulating  currency.  I  am  writing  a  book  now  on  the  Concentration  of 
Money,  and  if  Ilive  a  few  months  longer,  I  believe  I  will  make  quite  a 
few  of  them  sit  up  and  wonder  what  will  happen  next,  and  it  might  be 
that  by  reading  between  the  lines  they  will  see  the  answer.  I  stated  above 
that  I  hired  out  as  a  Bullwhacker,  and  now  comes  what  happened  to  me 
as  a  Bullwhacker  on  my  second  trip.  I  got  my  first  real  experience  as  an 
Indian  fighter,  which  came  about  in  this  way.  Our  outfit  had  advanced 
me  to  the  job  of  extra  hand  and  it  was  my  duty,  among  other  things,  to 
ride  ahead  of  the  outfit  and  select  a  camping  place.  We  knew  the  Indians 
were  on  the  war  path,  and  that  we  were  near  their  stomping  ground,  and 
we  also  believed  we  were  near  a  small  settlement  of  homesteaders.  The 
wagon  master  told  me  to  ride  down  the  road  a  few  miles  and  if  I  got  into 
the  white  settlement  I  should  select  a  camping  place  where  We  would  rest 
our  cattle  a  day  or  so. 


91 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


THE  MOTHER  LYING  IN  THE  DOORWAY,  HER  BODY  FULL 

OF  ARROWS 

I  soon  reached  the  valley,  and  when  I  had  rode  up  close  to  a  small 
house  there,  I  saw  lying  in  the  door  the  body  of  a  woman,  I  believe  a 
dozen  arrows  had  been  fired  into  her  body.  Our  wagon  master  was  some 
distance  in  front  of  the  outfit,  as  he  rode  over  the  top  of  a  high  hill  I 
signaled  him  to  come  forward  at  once.  He  soon  arrived  and  the  outfit 
was  not  far  behind,  by  the  time  the  wagon  master  reached  me.  I  had 
found  two  children  who  made  their  escape  when  the  Indians  came  upon 
them.  These  children  said  their  father  was  exchanging  work  with  another 
homesteader.  They  also  said  that  some  twenty  Indians  rushed  down  on 
them  and  captured  their  two  grown-up  sisters  and  after  tying  their  hair 
to  horses'  tails,  they  made  the  girls  travel  very  fast  over  the  rocks  bare- 
footed.    They  said  the  Indians  then  killed  their  mother. 

About  this  time,  the  father  and  several  other  homesteaders  arrived, 
they  having  heard  that  the  Indians  were  expected  to  make  a  j-aid  and  as 
this  house  would  probably  be  the  first  one  they  would  attack,  the  father 
had  returned  home  to  prepare  for  an  Indian  attack. 


.THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 

A  FEW  MINUTES  LATER  WE  WERE  ON  THE  TRAIL  OF  THE 

INDIANS 

We  followed  them  several  miles,  and  as  I  was  considered  to  be  the 
Captain  of  our  men,  and  the  fact  that  I  was  riding  my  swift  steed,  I  kept 
several  hundred  yards  ahead  of  the  other  men.  I  believe  there  were  twelve 
of  us.  I  finally  discovered  I  was  approaching  the  top  of  a  high  hill  and 
from  the  lay  of  the  country,  I  had  reason  to  believe  that  there  must  be 
a  valley  on  the  other  side  of  this  hill,  so  I  dismounted  and  crawled  to  the 
top  of  the  hill,  and  sure  enough  there  was  a  valley  in  sight.  I  at  once 
signaled  the  other  men  to  halt -a  moment,  when  I  raised  my  field  glasses 
I  discovered  the  Indians  just  going  into  camp  more  than  a  mile  ahead  of 
us,  I  then  looked  the  country  over  and  discovered  a  deep  canyon  which 
we  could  follow  and  arrive  at  a  place  only  a  short  distance  from  where 
the  Indians  were  camped.  I  also  discovered  that  the  Indians  had  discarded 
their  arms  about  fifty  yards  from  where  the  girls  were  sitting  on  the 
ground  and  that  the  Indians  were  running  around  the  girls  in  a  sort  of  a 
war  dance. 

I  COULD  NOT  SEE  ANY  SIGNS  OF  PICKET 

The  Indian  ponies,  or  most  of  them,  were  more  than  a  hundred  yards 
away.  The  Indians  seemed  to  be  joining  a  circle  and  running  around  the 
girls.  I  rushed  back  to  where  the  other  men  were  and  told  them  to  follow 
me  and  to  keep  in  readiness  for  a  surprise  attack,  as  there  might  be  a  few 
Indians  hidden  in  the  canyon  We  rode  at  full  speed  over  rocks  and 
through  brush  as  if  there  was  nothing  in  our  path,  and  in  about  thirty 
minutes  I  calculated  we  were  near  our  objective,  so  we  all  dismounted. 
We  could  then  hear  the  Indians  singing  and  whooping.  We  left  two  men 
in"  charge  of  our  horses  and  ten  of  us  started  on  up  the  canyon  at  full 
speed  and  when  we  had  arrived  at  the  place  where  I  decided  to  make  the 
attack,  we  rushed  to  the  top  of  the  bank  and  fired  on  them.  We  had 
previously  agreed  that  the  men  in  front  should  pick  off  the  Indians 
closest  to  the  girls  and  as  soon  as  our  guns  cracked,  the  girls  started  to- 
ward us  and  we  rushed  over  the  top  and  finished  the  job,  leaving,  so  far 
as  we  know,  the  Indians  to  enjoy  a  good  long  rest.  We  burned  everv 
piece  of  their  equipment  which  we  found,  and  I  believe  some  of  our  men 
clipped  off  a  few  Indian  scalps.  The  girls  ran  to  their  father's  arms. 
They  had  not  been  harmed  more  than  to  have  their  clothing  torn  very 
badly  and  their  feet  cut  and  worn  almost  to  the  bone,  their  whole  body 
was  covered  with  blood,  they  had  tried  to  relieve  their  feet  with  their 
hands  and  of  course,  had  distributed  the  blood  all  over  their  body.  They 
were  sure  a  sad  sight  to  look  on,  but  we  covered  them  up  the  best  we 
could  and  were  soon  on  our  way  back  to  camp.  We  shot  a  Jot  of  their 
ponies  and  drove  a  few  of  them  back  to  our  camp. 

I  had  mounted  my  horse  awaiting  a  decision  as  to  who  would  carry 
the  girls  back  to  camp  and  at  the  same  time  I  had  unfolded  a  blanket 
which  I  carried  folded  and  tied  fast  to  the  back  of  my  saddle.  The 
oldest  and  largest  one  of  the  girls  said  "Dad,  help  me  up  behind  the  young 
man  riding  the  brown  horse,"  and  I  quickly  turned  about  in  my  saddle 

nil 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


First  discovery  I/W///M 
of  the  gir/5  by  WW% 
DaT),the  Indian  Scoot. 


[12] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


The  Indians   were  dcmcm<)   around  the 
girb  before  fired  on  bu,  the  rescuers. 
Hote  the  girl*  sitting  on  the  ground  with 
arms    about    each    other- 


[13J 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


14 


THE     LIP  E     OI:     A     ROVER 


and  spread  the  blanket  over  my  horse,  leaving  enough  in  front  to  cover 
my  saddle  so  my  weight  would  keep  the  blanket  in  place.  The  moment 
this  beautiful  young  lady  was  seated,  I  leaned  forward  and  said,  "Charlie, 
take  us  to  camp  with  all  the  speed  you  have  in  you,"  and  I  then  said  to  the 
young  lady  to  hold  fast  and  I  will  give  you  the  fastest  ride  you  ever 
experienced  on  the  back  of  a  horse.  We  started,  Charlie  seemed  to  know 
that  it  was  a  race  for  life  or  death.  There  was  no  brush  or  large,  rock, 
the  ground  was  mostly  level  but  rolling,  and  generally  sprinkled  on  top 
with  decomposed  rock,  which,  while  not  hard  like  granite,  it  would  cut  a 
bare  foot.  I  do  not  remember  the  time  required  to  make  that  ride,  but 
we  reached  the  homestead  about  one  mile  in  the  lead  of  the  other  men.  All 
our  men  at  the  camp  were  on  the  lookout  for  us  to  return,  and  when  we 
came  in  sight,  the  first  thought  was  that  I  was  the  only  survivor,  but 
they  soon  were  all  pleased  to  see  I  was  returning  with  one  of  the  girls, 
and  every  man  was  at  the  door  of  the  homesteader  ready  to  offer  a  help- 
ing hand  and  several  farmers  were  there.  We  charged  up  to  the  front 
door,  the  young  lady  fell  from  my  horse  into  the  arms  of  a  farmer  who 
carried  her  into  the  house  and  gave  her  a  glass  of  fresh  water.  I  at  once 
dispatched  a  Bullwhacker  to  the  outfit  with  instructions  to  return  with  a 
large  bottle  of  liniment  and  some  bandages^,  which  we  carried  along  for 
first  aid  treatment.  The  little  sister  and  brother  were  there  to  help  out. 
The  girls  we  had  saved  did  not  know  their  mother  had  been  killed  be- 
cause the  Indians  had  grabbed  them  first  and  started  them  over  the  hills, 
their  hair  tied  to  the  tails  of  their  horses.  The  rest  of  the  posse  soon 
arrived  and  many  tender  hands  were  waiting  to  render  aid.  The  mo\her 
had  been  laid  out  and  the  body  covered   before  we  returned. 


[15| 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


THE  YOUNG  LADY  I  RETURNED,  SENT  FOR  ME 
There  were  other  women  folks  living  nearby,  but  there  was  so  much 
excitement  that  they  did  not  arrive  until  both  girls  had  received  first  aid 
and  covered  up  with  request  to  rest,  and,  if  they  could,  to  go  to  sleep. 
Say  friends,  if  ever  a  horse  found  himself  in  a  bunch  of  friends  it  was  my 
brown  Charlie,  there  were  at  least  a  half  a  dozen  men  rubbing  him  in»  a 
minute  after  I  dismounted  and  they  continued  rubbing  him  for  about 
one  hour,  now  and  then  giving  him  a  sup  or  so  of  water  and  a  handful  of 
grass  or  grain.  I  laid  down  for  a  short  rest,  it  was  only  for  one  hour, 
when  I  woke  up  I  went  to  see  my  horse  and  there  was  not  a  moist  hair 
to  be  seen  on  his  body,  he  was  always  glad  to  see  me,  because  we  were 
chums,  and  while  I  gave  him  many  a  hard  ride  he  never  seemed  to  be 
unwilling   to  go  through   whatever   the   burden   was. 

She  and  her  sister  were  eating  the  first  bite  of  food  they  had  eaten 
since  early  morning.  I  inquired  as  to  how  they  felt  and  while  they  were 
sad  on  account  of  the  killing  of  their  mother,  they  each  told  me  they 
were  suffering  very  little  pain  and  when  I  inquired  as  to  how  their  feet 
felt,  the  one  I  had  brought  back  requested  me  to  remove  the  bandages,  that 
she  thought  they  were  too  tight.  Now  wasn't  that  a  swell  job  for  me? 
I  had  never  seen  a  girl's  leg  in  my  life  above  her  shoe  tops,  because  boys  in 
those  days  did  not  known  anything  about  girls'  legs  as  they  do  now  days. 
I  got  busy  removing  the  bandages  and  when  I  had  them  removed  I  won- 
dered what  next  would  be  her  request.  The  younger  sister  was  asked  to 
bring  in  a  pan  of  warm  water,  which  she  sat  on  the  floor,  and  while  I 
was  praying  on  the  quiet  that  I  might  be  given  the  job  of  bathing  the 
feet  of  the  girl  I  had  saved,  the  little  sister  brought  in  a  towel  and  some 
soap  and  handed  it  to  me.  The  older  sister  then  looked  me  straight  in 
the  eye  and  requested  me  to  bathe  her  feet  and  replace  the  bandages.  I 
jumped  at  the  chance  and  you  can  depend  I  was  nervous  and  a  little  shy 
at  first,  but  I  managed  to  make  a  long  job  of  it.  I  rubbed  her  feet  and  her 
ankles  and  then  rubbed  them  some  more.  I  suppose  the  young  lady  en- 
joyed my  rubbing  but  she  never  said  a  word  when  I  had  finished  the  job. 
It  was  getting  late.  I  inquired  as  to  whether  the  bandages  were  too  tight, 
and  it  made  me  regret  that  I  had  not  stretched  them  a  little  more  so  she 
would  say  they  were  too  tight,  but  they  were  just  right,  she  said. 

We  remained  in  camp  for  several  days  waiting  for  other  outfits  to 
come  up  so  our  number  in  men  would  be  stronger,  because  our  wagon 
master  had  been  informed  that  several  hundred  Indians  were  camped  not 
far  ahead  of  us.  I,  myself,  had  become  somewhat  of  an  expert  dressing 
my  friends'  feet  and  I  liked  the  job  so  well,  that  I  inquired  of  the  wagon 
master  if  he  would  be  willing  to  cancel  my  contract,  so  I  could  continue 
dressing  the  young  lady's  feet  but  he  said  there  was  nothing  doing  but 
that  he  would  raise  my  wages  and  put  me  on  exclusive  scout  duty.  I 
assure  you  my  dear  reader,  I  wanted  to  continue  washing  those  dear  little 
feet  and  only  for  that  horrid  old  wagon  master  I  might  be  holding 
that  same  job   yet.      We    were  finally   getting   ready   to   go   forward    the 


|16 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


following  morning  when  I  was  offered  a  sum  of  money  by  the  father, 
which  he  said  was  all  the  money  he  had  at  that  time.  I  did  not  count 
the  money,  but  it  was  not  enough  to  choke  a  mule,  yet  it  was  quite  a  roll 
at  that.  I  said  to  the  father,  "I  do  not  want  money,"  and  his  reply  was 
that  I  should  name  what  I  wanted,  so  I  said,  a  kiss  or  so  from  the  lips 
of  the  girl  I  returned  to  his  home,  and  do  you  know  that  he  did  not 
answer  me,  but  left  the  room,  say,  the  kisses  were  then  given  me  thick, 
and  from  every  angle,  the  two  grownup  girls  were  first  and  last,  they 
really  forgot  their  feet  were  sore,  then  came  the  younger  sister  and  the 
brother,  and  finally  the  dad  and  a*few  neighbors  and  they  all  kissed  me. 
When  I  was  about  leaving  the  house,  I  noticed  I  was  alone,  except  the 
girl  whose  feet  I  had  been  washing  for  several  days,  I  turned  about  to 
say  "good-bye"  again,  and  she  said,  ,ftlon't  say  it,  I  want  you  to  stay 
here  forever,  and  to  prove  it  my  dad  and  all  the  family  would  be  pleased 
to  have  you  stay  with  us."  They  sent  for  the  wagon  master  and  begged 
him  for  more  than  an  hour  but  there  was  nothing  doing  and  we  all 
parted.  I,  no  doubt,  lost  the  opportunity  of  my  life  to  get  a  good  wife 
and  five  as  a  real  hero  among  true  and  loving  friends  until  called  by  death 
to  my  final  resting  place.  Never  since  have  I  heard  a  word  from  that 
lovely  family.  I  know  but  little  about  love,  but  I  suppose  I  really  loved 
that  girl  and  I  believe  she  and  her  whole  family  loved  me. 

While  I  have  been  married  four  times  and  am  now  in  the  market  for 
the  fifth  wife,  I  do  not  believe  any  of  the  women  I  married  loved  me,  be- 
cause it  gave  them  great  pleasure  to  find  fault  and  quarrel  with  me.  I 
call  such  love  vindictiveness,  or  hellishness.  I  really  should  look  it  up,  but 
I  will  not  take  up  space  trying  to  tell  you  something  I  do  not  understand. 
I  have  been  told  by  many  good  people  that  they  know  all  about  hell  and 
the  devil  but  I  sometimes  think  a  lot  of  these  wise  people  would  get 
along  just  as  well  if  they  did  a  little  more  hard  manual  labor,  than  by 
funding  fault  with  other  people  as  to  their  chances  to  meet  their  Heavenly 
Father  when  we  are  through  with  this  wicked  world.  Just  a  few  days  ago 
a  minister  of  the  Gospel  called  on  me  Sunday  morning,  as  he  had  done 
several  other  times  and  asked  me  for  a  dime,  to  help  out  the  Sunday  School 
and  when  he  got  the  dime  he  bought  a  cigar  with  it,  as  much  as  to  say, 

"To  hell  with  the  Sunday  School."  This  same  minister  will  call  again 
and  I  shall  not  turn  him  down,  but  he  will  be  offered  a  pipe  of  tobacco 
instead  of  money. 

I  once  gave  a  man  a  new  suit  of  clothes  which  cost  me  $37.50  and  he 
pawned  it  for  $3.00  and  spent  the  $3.00  for  dago  red  and  of  course  got 
drunk,  lost  his  job  which  the  new  suit  got  for  him.  Be  charitable  to  the 
limit  of  your  ability  to  give  is  my  motto,  but  if  you  can't  find  a  person 
whom  you  believe  will  be  benefitted  by  your  gift,  hold  fast  to  what  you 
have  until  you  find  the  right  one. 


[17] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


I  DID  NOT  RETURN  WITH  THIS  OUTFIT 
After  I  had  gone  on  with  this  outfit  to  the  end  of  the  journey  they 
told  us  that  half  of  the  men  could  take  the  outfit  back  and  the  otners 
could  get  a  job  with  a  surveying  outfit.  I  did  not  go  back,  but  went  to 
work  with  the  surveying  outfit.  We  first  laid  out  Julesburg  on  the  U.  P. 
Railroad  and  then  we  laid  out  Cheyenne,  and  did  other  jobs  along  the 
U.  P.  Road  until  the  call  came  for  bullwhackers  to  go  with  an  expedition 
to  Fort  C.  F.  Smith,  which  they  said  was  located  on  the  Little  Bighorn 
River.  You  see  it  was  very  late  in  the  fall  and  it  was  considered  very 
risky  to  make  that  trip  on  account  of  the  danger  of  getting  the  outfit 
snowed  under  on  the  top  of  a  mountain.  Then,  too,  the  Indians  were 
on  the  war  path  and  had  declared  that  any  outfit  which  would  undertake 
to  deliver  supplies  to  Fort  Reno,  Fort  Philkarney  or  Fort  C.  F.  Smith, 
would  be  destroyed  before  they  went  ten  miles  beyond  old  Fort  Laramie, 
which  was  located  on  the  north  branch  of  the  North  Piatt  River.  When* 
I  speak  of  Bullwhackers,  I  mean  one  who  can  drive  an  ox  team  and  when 
I  speak  of  mule  skinners,  I  mean  one  who  can  drive  a  mule  team  and  a 
black  snake  is  a  whip. 

LATE  IN  THE  FALL  OF  1865 
Late  in  the  fall  of  1865  it  was  reported  that  unless  fresh  supplies  of 
ammunition  and  every  other  item  needed  at  the  Forts,  namely:  Fort 
Reno,  Fort  Philkarney  and  Fort  C.  F.  Smith  could  be  brought  in  that 
each  of  these  Forts  would  be  exterminated  by  the  warring  Indians.  These 
Forts  were  then  being  attacked  by  the  .Indians,  and  while  it  was  so  late  in 
the  fall  there  was  nothing  to  do,  only  try  to  reach  them  by  ox  teams, 
which  were  then  called  bull  teams,  because  mules  cannot  live  on  wild 
grass.  And  it  would  take  two  mules  to  haul  feed  for  one,  the  call  was 
sent  out  for  Bullwhackers  and  the  writer  thought  there  was  a  chance  to 
do  a  litttle  more  roving,  and  also  because  there  might  be  a  chance  to  get 
in  as  assistant  wagonmaster  which  was  preferred  because  of  the  fact  that 
he  owned  a  very  fine,   well   trained  horse. 


[18] 


THE     LIFE     O.F     A     ROVER 


THE  BOSS  SAID,  "YOUNG  MAN,  THAT'S  *A  FINE  HORSE" 
When  the  writer  applied  for  a  job  as  a  bullwhacker  the  boss  said 
"young  man,  that  is  a  fine  looking  horse  you  are  riding."  "Yes,"  I  said, 
"I  believe  he  is  the  best  horse  in  this  part  of  the  country,  and  I  think  he 
is  as  good  a  horse  as  any  man  owns  anywhere."  The  gentleman  then 
said  he  wanted  to  buy  a  good  horse  and  that  he  was  willing  to  pay  a 
good  price  for  such  a  one  as  I  was  riding,  I  promptly  told  him  my  horse 
was  not  for-  sale.  I  told  him  I  would  prefer  a  job  as  extra  hand  or  as- 
sistant wagonmaster.  Then  I  told  the  gentleman  that  there  was  a  couple 
of  ditches  near  his  tent,  and  that  if  he  wanted  to  see  what  a  good  horse 
could  do,  to  come  outside.  When  he  stepped  outside,  I  leaned  forward, 
and  my  horse  started  on  the  dead  run  and  jumped  the  ditches  or  gullies 
one  after  the  other  and  then  I  wheeled  him  about  and  he  repeated  the 
jumps  and  at  no  time  did  I  have  my  hands  on  the  bridle  reins.  When  I 
had  returned  to  the  tent  I  was  told  there  was  no  vacancy  for  a  job  as  as- 
sistant wagonmaster,  but  that  if  I  would  ride  my  horse  on  the  trip,  he 
would  be  glad  to  start  me  out  as  an  extra  hand  and  if  there  was  a  chance 
later  he  would  raise  me  to  assistant  wagonmaster,  providing  I  made  good. 
And  he  then  said,  when  we  reached  Fort  Laramie  that  all  the  different 
outfits  would  consilidate  and  there  would  be  one  wagonmaster-in-chief 
and  one  assistant  wagonmaster-in-chief  and  in  case  his  wagonmaster 
should  be  chosen  as  the  chief  wagonmaster,  there  might  be  a  chance  for 
me  to  go  higher  up.  He  also  said  there  would  be  several  scouts  wanted 
from  Fort  Laramie  clear  through  to  Fort  C.  F.  Smith,  on  account  of  the 
Indians  being  set  on  exterminating  the  outfit  before  we  reached  Fort 
Reno,  which  he  said  was  about  60  or  70  miles  beyond  Fort  Laramie. 
Of  course  the  way  he  talked  about  the  danger  of  coming  in  contact  with 
savage  Indians  would  scare  me  out  nowadays,  but  I  had  seen  Indians  be- 
fore, and  for  some  reason  or  other  I  did  not  fear  them  as  much  as  I 
should.  Then,  too,  I  was  told  that  we  would  have  a  strong  escort  of 
soldiers  and  three  cannons  to  protect  the  outfit  after  we  left  Fort  Laramie. 
However,  I  was  employed  as  extra  hand  and  there  were  only  26  bull 
teams  in  our  outfit.  Twenty-five  of  them  loaded  with  Government 
freight  and  one  with  grub  and  ammunition  for  our  men.  When  we 
finally  reached  Fort  Laramie  we  camped  five  miles  from  the  Fort  which 
I  believe  was  as  close  as  we  were  allowed  to  camp  unless  our  freight  was 
for  that   Fort. 


191 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


THE  DISCHARGE  OF  OUR  WAGONMASTER 
While  we  were  waiting  for  the  other  units  to  come  up  and  go  through 
the  form  of  re-organizing,  one  of  our  bullwhackers  got  in  trouble  with 
the  wagonmaster,  who  by  the  way,  was  said  to  be  one  of  the  meanest 
men  who  ever  swung  a  blacksnake  over  an  oxen's  back,  and  he  was  also 
a  noted  gunman,  and  often  he  had  said  he  would  kill  a  half  dozen  of  our 
bullwhackers  before  we  got  back  to  the  U.  P.  Railroad.  The  Bull- 
whackers  were  watching  him  and  they  intended  to  grab  him  the  first  time 
he  attempted  to  carry  out  any  of  his  threats,  on  this  occasion  he  struck 
the  Bullwhacker  he  was  quarreling  with,  and  at  that  moment  a  rope  was 
thrown  over  his  head  and  made  fast  about  his  throat  and  his  six  shooter 
removed  from  the  scabbard,  and  a  wagon  tongue  raised.  As  he  was  about 
being  pulled  up  in  the  air  he  got  on  his  knees  and  said  if  they  would 
spare  his  life  he  would  leave  the  outfit  at  once  and  return  to  the  U.  P. 
R.  R..  which  I  believe  was  some  200  miles.  It  was  agreed  that  his  pistols 
and  rifle  should  be  placed  on  the  road  one-fourth  mile  from  the  camp  and 
that  if  he  would  pick  them  up  and  keep  on  going  they  would  spare  his 
life,  and  to  be  sure  he  did  not  attempt  to  come  back  several  men  were 
stationed  where  they  could  fill  him  full  of  lead  should  he  attempt  to  re- 
turn. He  was  soon  out  of  sight  and  never  seen  again  until  we  returned. 
As  to  his  ending  I  will  tell  you  later. 

NEW  WAGONMASTER  ELECTED 
However,  we  had  no  wagonmaster  and  a  meeting  was  called  to  elect  a 
new  one.  Our  assistant  who  was  a  fine  fellow  was  elected  to  fill  the 
vacancy,  and  I  was  elected  assistant  wagonmaster  of  our  unit.  That  same 
day  the  other  wagonmasters  of  the  different  units  held  a  meeting  and 
elected  our  wagonmaster  in  chief  and  when  that  job  was  finished  the 
wagonmaster  in  chief  appointed  me  chief  of  scouts  so  I  had  three  jobs. 
We,  however,  were  being  told  every  day  that  the  Indians  were  gathering 
in  great  numbers  and  that  we  would  be  attacked  before  we  had  gone  ten 
miles  beyond  Fort  Laramie. 

ONLY  A  SMALL  GARRISON  AT  FORT  LARAMIE 
There  being  only  a  small  garrison  at  the  Fort,  the  officer  in  command 
only  gave  us  two  companies  of  soldiers  as  an  escort  and  three  Howitzers 
or  small  cannon,  and  I  believe  1  7  men  to  man  them.  We  pulled  out  early 
in  the  morning  and  as  there  was  over  200  Bullwhackers  including  wagon- 
masters,  assistants  and  extra  hands,  it  took  some  time  to  get  under  way  the 
first  day.  But  our  cattle  had  rested  several  days  feeding  on  good  bunch 
grass  and  plenty  of  good  water.  Our  next  camping  place  was  said  to  be 
about  12  or  15  miles  travel  and  while  ten  or  twelve  miles  was  a  good 
day's  travel  for  heavily  loaded  bull  teams,  we  had  to  throw  the  whip 
into  the  oxen  to  make  our  camp  before  dark.  The  wagonmaster  in  chief 
gave  orders  that  every  bullwhacker  should  keep  his  team  close  up  to  the 
rear  end  of  the  wagon  in  front  of  him  and  the  extra  hands  were  instructed 
to  ride  up  and  down  the  line  and  use  their  blacksnakes  to  help  keep  up 
speed  and  to  prevent  the  lazy  bullwhackers  from  shirking  their  duty. 

[201 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


CROW  INDIANS  REPORT  GREAT  DANGER  AHEAD 

Just  about  the  time  the  outfit  got  strung  out  a  half  dozen  Crow 
Indians  were  seen  coming  over  the  hill  a  half  mile  away.  The  wagon- 
master  sent  me  ahead  to  meet  them  and  when  they  came  within  three  or 
four  hundred  yards  of  me  they  held  up  a  white  rag  and  as  they  came 
closer  they  showed  me  they  were  unarmed.  I  signaled  for  the  wagon- 
master  to  come  forward,  which  he  did  with  the  officer  in  command  of  the 
escort  and  several  soldiers,  so  when  we  had  rode  up  to  wliere  I  had 
signaled  the  Crow  Indians  to  stop,  the  leader  of  the  Indians  told  us  that 
we  had  better  go  back  because  the  Chief  of  the  Indians,  which  was  on 
the  war  path  had  sent  him  to  tell  us  that  we  would  all  be  killed  before 
we  went  ten  miles  because  he  said  the  chief  told  him  to  tell  us  he  had 
several  thousand  well-armed  brave  warriors  who  would  come  down  on 
us  in  a  bunch  and  that  he  did  not  want  to  kill  the  bullwhackers,  but  that 
he  would  not  allow  us  to  relieve  the  then  starving  Forts  which  we  were 
carrying   supplies   for. 


o-vw 


-1211 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


THE  WAGONMASTER  DECIDED  TO  GO  AHEAD  REGARDLESS 

OF  DANGER 
After  we  had  received  this  awful  news  the  wagonmasters  got  their 
heads  togther  and  sent  out  scouts  over  the  hills  to  look  for  Indians  and 
they  also  gave  orders  to  throw  the  whip  into  the  oxen  and  make  all  the 
speed  possible.  The  wagonmaster  then  called  me  to  his  side  and  we  rode 
down  the  line  to  the  rear  end  of  the  outfit,  warning  every  man  to  keep  one 
finger  on  the  trigger  of  his  rifle  and  use  his  blacksnake  with  the  other  hand 
to  keep  his  team  close  up  to  the  one  in  front.  This  was  done  to  prevent 
an  Indian  from  making  a  dash  through  the  outfit  with  a  red  blanket  which 
he  would  throw  on  the  oxen's  back  to  try  to  stampede  them. 

INDIAN  FOUND  BURIED  IN  A  CEDAR  TREE 
The  wagonmaster  then  told  me  to  ride  to  the  high  points  and  search 
the  country  over  with  my  field  glasses  for  Indians,  and  to  keep  on  the 
tops  of  the  highest  hills  I  could  find,  for  an  hour  or  so,  unless  I  discovered 
hostile  Indians.  After  riding  over  the  hills  for  perhaps  two  hours  I  had 
made  up  my  mind  to  report  that  I  could  see  no  trace  of  Indians.  I,  how- 
ever, had  discovered  something  which  looked  like  an  Indian  in  a  large 
cedar  tree  which  was  on  a  direct  line  between  me  and  the  center  of  our 
outfit.  I  again  raised  my  field  glasses  and  while  I  could  see  the  small 
limbs  move  about,  the  thing  I  was  looking  at  did  not  move.  I  rode  down 
closer  and  again  looked  it  over  with  my  field  glasses  and  I  was  convinced 
that  there  was  something  in  that  cedar  tree  besides  limbs.  I  rode  closer 
and  discovered  there  was  an  Indian  in  the  tree,  but  he  was  buried  there 
and  when  I  made  up  my  mind  it  was  a  dead  Indian  and  that  his  body 
was  not  more  than  ten  feet  above  the  ground,  I  rode  under  the  tree  and 
said  to  my  trusty  horse,  if  he  would  be  good  I  would  stand  up  on  the 
saddle  and  find  out  what  there  was  wrapped  up  in  those  Buffalo  robes. 
When  I  was  standing  up  on  the  saddle  I  discovered  I  was  looking  in  the 
bare  face  of  a  dead  Indian  and  you  can  depend  it  started  a  chill  down  my 
back,  because  he  looked  as  if  he  had  not  been  there  more  than  a  day  or 
so.  There  he  was,  wrapped  in  many  robes  and  strapped  and  tied  with 
strips  of  rawhide  to  the  limbs  of  the  tree  and  also  to  the  main  body 
of  the  tree.  There  was  also  a  dish  carved  out  of  stone,  full  of  boiled 
beans  and  some  dried  meat  and  many  dried  roots,  sometimes  called  Indian 
chewing  gum.  There  was  also  his  bows  and  many  arrows  and  a  long 
muzzle-loading  rifle,  a  tomahawk  and  a  large  knife  and  a  lot  of  flints 
which  the  Indians  use  to  start  a  fire.  Yes,  there  was  a  pipe  cut  out  of 
stone  and  a  beautiful  beaded  buckskin  sack  full  of  Indian  Tobacco  and  a 
lot  of  other  trinkets,  a  box  of  gun  caps,  a  lot  of  bullets  and  a  horn  full 
of  powder. 


[221 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


[23] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


FIFTY  INDIANS  ATTACK  THE  WRITER 

When  I  had  settled  down  in  my  saddle  I  thought  what  a  fool  I  was 
to  stand  up  there  a  mile  from  the  outfit  and  the  country  full  of  Indians 
on  the  warpath, — how  easy  would  it  have  been  for  them  to  have  filled 
me  full  of  arrows,  and  before  I  had  gone  more  than  100  yards  my  horse 
commenced  throwing  his  head  to  one  side  and  acting  so  funny,  I  turned 
about  and  to  my  great  surprise  there  were  fully  fifty  Indians  coming  as 
fast  as  their  ponies  could  carry  them.  They  were  one-fourth  of  a  mile 
away,  I  fired  several  shots  at  them  with  my  Henry  rifle  and  started  for 
the  outfit  and  when  I  had  reached  the  top  of  a  high  point  I  could  see  the 
bullwhackers  and  soldiers  coming  to  my  aid  and  when  we  had  met  I  rode 
up  to  another  point  and  discovered  there  were  about  fifteen  Indians  at  the 
cedar  tree  where  the  Indian  was  buried,  and  the  others  were  scattered.  It 
was  decided  to  send  five  men  up  a  canyon,  which  looked  to  be  the  way 
they  would  come  if  they  followed  me  any  further.  It  wasn't  but  a  few 
minutes  until  we  heard  the  five  rifles  start  a  rapid  fire.  We  went  to  their 
aid  but  when  we  had  gotten  within  a  few  hundred  yards  of  them  they 
were  coming  towards  us  as  quietly  as  if  nothing  had  happened.  When 
we  met  them,  we  asked  what  they  were  firing  at  and  they  said  we  could 
find  out  if  we  went  up  the  canyon  a  few  hundred  yards,  then  they  told  us 
that  they  had  hidden  behind  the  rocks  and  the  Indians,  about  twenty  or 
thirty,  rode  down  within  fifty  yards  of  them  before  they  could  see  them 
coming  and  that  one  Indian  fired  a  shot  in  the  direction  of  where  I  was, 
about  the  time  they  fired  on  the  Indians.  They  said  the  moment  they 
fired  the  first  shot,  the  Indians  wheeled  and  started  in  all  directions,  except 
toward  them,  but  they  did  not  all  go  back,  some  of  them  were  resting 
peacefully,  up  the  canyon,  or  on  the  hillside.  We  were  not  interested  in 
looking  after  peaceful  Indians,  so  we  then  returned  to  the  outfit  and 
found  the  bullwhackers  and  soldiers  scattered,  out  here  and  there  ready  for 
whatever  might  come,  and  in  a  few  moments  the  outfit  was  going  forward 
at  full  speed  and  we  got  into  camp  before  dark. 


T241 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


FIRST  DAYS  EXPERIENCE  BEYOND  FORT  LARAMIE 

The  first  day  out  of  Fort  Laramie  we  had  lots  of  fun  as  the  bull- 
whackers  called  it,  and  I  believe  it  did  them  much  good,  because  they 
knew  there  were  real  Indians  in  the  hills  thereabouts,  and  before  we 
reached  Fort  Reno  we  had  several  little  scraps,  but  of  no  importance,  until 
we  were  near  the  Fort.  The  Indians  really  meant  to  get  us  but  every 
time  they  tried  it  they  met  their  Waterloo,  because  we  were  expecting  them 
and  our  scouts  were  scouring  the  hills  with  powerful  field  glasses  watching 
for  fresh  trails,  at  night  time  our  cattle  were  guarded  so  that  there  was 
little  chance  for  a  surprise.  Of  course,  the  Indians  made  many  attempts 
to  stampede  the  herd  but  they  never  got  more  than  a  few  head,  which  had 
gotten  beyond  the  protection  of  the  guards,  and  before  they  could  get 
them  out  of  range  they  were  shelled  by  the  artillery  and  we  recovered  the 
cattle.  We  were  now  within  twenty  miles  of  Fort  Reno,  our  first  objec- 
tive, and  had  decided  to  rest  our  tired  cattle  two  days  because  we  had 
again  been  warned  that  before  we  travel  forward  ten  miles  we  would  have 
to  go  from  there  into  Fort  Reno,  through  lowlands  and  heavy  timber  and 
very  bad  roads;  also  that  the  Indians  were  attacking  Fort  Reno  to  keep 
them  from  sending  us  reinforcements  and  that  we  would  meet  the  largest 
band  of  Indians  on  the  war  path  as  soon  as  we  reached  the  low  timber- 
lands. 


25 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


26 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


OUR  HENRY  RIFLES  SAVED  US 
The  chief  wagonmaster  finally  made  up  his  mind  to  go  forward  and 
take  our  medicine.  We  knew  we  would  not  be  attacked  before  we  reached 
'he  lowlands,  because  there  were  no  hills  or  rocks  for  the  Indians  to  hide 
;>ehind.  They  knew  if  they  came  out  in  the  open  we  would  annihilate 
hem  with  over  150  Henry  rifles  besides  the  armament  of  our  escort.  No 
Indian  force  up  to  2,000  would  have  a  chance,  because  they  would  not 
rush  on  after  our  fire  started.  We  were  determined  to  make  an  Indian 
stop  every  bullet  we  sent  forward — then  you  see  a  Henry  rifle  is  one  of  the 
most  powerful  guns  ever  made,  and  when  fired  by  men  who  know,  they 
will  stop  the  enmey.  There  are  few  men  who  will  go  out  in  the  open 
against  such  weapons  in  the  hands  of  determined  white  men  who  know 
they  must  make  every  shot  count. 

WE  ARE  NOW  CAMPED  AT  THE  "EDGE  OF  THE  LOWLANDS 
We  are  now  camped  at  the  edge  of  the  low  timberland  and  can  hear 
gunfire  which  is  coming  from  the  direction  of  Fort  Reno.  The  wagon- 
master  has  ordered  the  outfit  to  go  forward,  and  I  have  been  ordered  to 
make  a  dash  for  the  Fort  to  get  reinforcements.  After  going  at  full 
speed  about  one  mile  my  horse  began  to  shake  his  head  and  rather  refused 
to  go  further,  and  when  I  had  stopped  him  and  looked  through  by  field 
glasses,  I  discovered  more  than  fifty  Indians  in  the  top  of  trees,  and  most 
of  them  were  only  a  few  feet  from  the  road.  The  timber  was  cotton- 
wood.  There  were  many  fallen  trees  which  made  great  protection  for  the 
Indians.  Just  a  moment  before  I  started  back  to  the  outfit  I  noticed  ten  or 
twelve  Indians  run  out  from  behind  a  big  log;  to  lead  me  on  they  ran  back 
into  the  brush  as  if  they  were  scared  and  other  Indians  came  down  out  of 
the  trees  but  I  knew  there  were  more  left  behind.  You  see  an  Indian 
is  trained  to  lead  people  into  a  trap.  If  there  is  only  one  or  two  white 
men  coming  toward  hidden  hostile  Indians,  they  most  all  run  like  scared 
deer,  and  if  the  white  men  follow  them  they  won't  go  far  until  they 
run  up  against  a  hail  of  arrows  fired  by  hidden  Indians  who  were  left 
behind  to  pick  off  the  one  or  two  men  who  allowed  themselves  to  be 
led  into  an  Indian  trap.  So  I  knew  if  I  didn't  turn  back  I  would  not 
go  much  farther  until  I  would  be  full  of  arrows.  I  returned  to  the  outfit. 
While  making  my  report  a  young  lad  only  seventeen  years  old  mounted 
a  horse  and  said  he  was  going  to  the  Fort  for  reinforcements.  He  was  told 
he  would  be  full  of  arrows  before  he  had  gone  half  a  mile,  he  went  ahead 
and  we  soon  found  his  body  on  the  road  full  of  arrows  and  his  scalp 
gone.     We  buried  him  the  next  dav  at  Fort  Reno. 


271 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


OUR  ARTILLERY  SHELLED  THE  WOODS 
When  this  young  lad  started  for  the  Fort  the  Artillery  commenced 
throwing  shells  ahead  of  him  in  the  woods  thinking  they  might  drive 
the  Indians  out,  but  they  got  him.  The  bullwhackers  were  instructed 
to  keep  up  as  much  speed  as  they  could  and  also  to  keep  up  a  running 
fire  through  the  woods  in  front  of  the  outfit  and  on  both  sides  of  the 
road  whether  they  saw  Indians  or  not.  With  every  man  pounding  the 
oxen  on  the  back  we  soon  were  in  sight  of  the  Fort  which  was  on  a 
high  point  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  and  when  we  had  reached  the 
bank  of  the  river  opposite  the  Fort  we  were  then  only  about  500  yards 
from  the  Fort.  As  the  water  was  not  more  than  two  feet  deep  the 
wagonmasters  gave  orders  to  rush  the  outfit  across  the  river  and  told  me 
to  search  the  hillsides  for  Indians.  I  could  locate  only  a  few  small  bunches 
along  the  bank  of  the  river  and  on  both  sides  and  they  were  perhaps  over 
a  mile  away. 

FORT  RENO  OUT  OF  AMMUNITION  AND  SUPPLIES 
We  were  greatly  surprised  that  the  soldiers  at  the  Fort  did  not  come 
out  to  meet  us  but  when  we  had  gotten  about  one  half  the  outfit  up  on 
the  bank  in  front  of  the  Fort  the  gates  were  thrown  open  and  the  almost 
starved  soldiers  rushed  out,  climbing  into  the  wagons  and  dragging  out 
sides  of  bacon  and  boxes  of  crackers  and  eating  as  if  they  were  almost 
starved,  and  I  suppose  they  were,  too,  because  the  commanding  officer 
told  us  that  they  were  entirely  out  of  everything  and  that  the  Indians 
had  been  attacking  them  for  several  days  and  that  we  had  saved  their 
lives, — that  they  could  not  have  held  out  much  longer.  He  also  told  us 
that  Fort  Philkarney  and  Fort  C.  F.  Smith  were  entirely  out  of  supplies. 
He  said  the  Indians  would  do  their  best  to  prevent  us  from  reaching  either 
of  these  Forts.  We  were  told  it  was  about  sixty  miles  to  Fort  Philkarney. 
We  were  also  told  that  it  was  about  thirty  miles  to  Crazy  Woman's  Fork, 
and  that  the  road  was  very  good,. but  there  was  not  a  drop  of  water 
or  even  a  sprig  of  grass  until  we  reached  Crazy  Woman's  Fork,  where 
we  would  find  plenty  of  fine  feed  and  a  beautiful  stream  of  water.  After 
resting  our  tired  cattle  two  or  three  days  we  filled  our  kegs  and  canteens 
full  of  water  and  at  4:00  o'clock  in  the  morning  we  started  forward  and 
on  both  sides  of  the  road  we  found  thousands  of  Moss  Agates  and  many 
petrified  bones,  some  of  them  were  human  skulls.  There  was  no  brush 
nor  rocks  for  Indians  to  hide  themselves  behind  and  we  knew  they  would 
not  come  out  in  the  open  to  meet  such  a  dangerous  fire  as  we  would  give 
them. 

That  afternoon  we  did  see  many  Buffalo  and  a  large  herd  which  was 
four  or  five  miles  away,  were  coming  toward  us.  At  about  4:00  o'clock 
we  were  compelled  to  stop  the  outfit  for  half  an  hour  until  the  Buffalo  had 
passed  on  across  the  road.  The  artillery  threw  many  shells  into  the  front 
line  of  them,  but  those  in  the  rear  were  pushing  forward,  so  finally  the 
Artillery  men  changed  their  fire  and  after  throwing  a  few  shells  back  to- 
wards the  rear  the  Buffalo  commenced  to  scatter  and  we  went  forward. 

r  28  i 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


LOST  12  HEAD  OF  CATTLE  CROSSING  THE  30-MILE  DESERT 
I  believe  we  lost  twelve  head  of  cattle  crossing  this  desert, — they  died 
from  thirst.  We  reached  Crazy  Woman's  Fork  about  seven  p.  m.,  after 
a  hard  day's  drive  and  found  plenty  of  good  water,  wood  and  feed  for 
our  almost  worn  out  cattle. 

It  commenced  raining  just  before  six  p.  m.,  but  it  was  not  a  hard  rain. 
It  did  much  good,  however,  because  it  laid  the  dust  and  sent  a  little  moist 
air  into  the  throats  of  our  animals  which  gave  them  new  courage.  Our 
men  fared  much  better  because  they  all  had  two  or  more  canteens  of 
water  and  we  spared  a  small  amount  to  our  horses.  I  pushed  a  wet  rag 
in  my  horse's  mouth  several  times  and  he  seemed  to  like  it. 

INDIANS  ATTEMPT  TO  STAMPEDE  OUR  CATTLE 
There  were  fresh  signs  where  Indians  had  been  camped  and  some  of 
the  fires  had  not  yet  gone  out.  At  12  o'clock  that  night  a  small  band 
of  Indians  made  a  dash  for  our  herd  and  as  most  of  the  cattle  were  lying 
down  and  our  pickets  were  keeping  a  sharp  lookout,  the  Indians  run  into  a 
gunfire  before  they  reached  the  herd.  They  did  not  do  us  any  damage. 
The  Moon  soon  came  up  and  the  danger  of  Indians  was  over.  We  rested 
two  days  and  went  forward  towards  Fort  Philkarney.  We  traveled  for 
three  miles  over  a  very  bad  road,  as  well  as  a  dangerous  one,  because  there 
was  much  brush,  hills  and  rocks,  and  while  the  Indians  did  not  come  on 
us  in  force  we  could  see  them  scattered  out  in  the  hills  trying  to  draw  us 
out. 

INDIANS  HIDDEN  IN  THE  BRUSH 
We  knew  if  we  saw  one  Indian  a  half  mile  away  that  there  were 
others  between  us  and  the  one  we  could  see.  We  finally  reached  a  point 
some  ten  miles  from  Fort  Philkarney  and  waited  for  reinforcements  to 
come  out  and  escort  us  into  the  Fort  but  after  waiting  one  day  and  no  aid 
came  to  meet  us  we  started  forward  and  as  we  came  nearer  to  the  fort 
we  could  hear  gunfire  and  we  knew  the  Indians  were  attacking  the  Fort. 
So  we  received  orders  from  the  wagonmaster  to  throw  the  whip  into  the 
oxen  and  that  every  bullwhacker  should  keep  his  leader  close  up  to  the 
rear  end  of  the  wagon  in  front  of  him. 


[29] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


INDIANS  ATTACKING  FORT  PHILKARNEY  WHEN  WE  CAME 

IN  SIGHT 
When  we  were  within  two  miles  of  the  Fort  I  could  see  many  Indians 
firing  from  a  high  point  beyond  the  Fort,  but  there  were  none  between  us 
and  the  Fort.  I  made  my  report  to  the  wagonmaster  and  he  told  me  to 
run  the  spurs  deep  into  my  horse  and  make  a  dash  for  reinforcements. 
I  started,  and  after  going  I  believe,  about  a  mile  and  a  half,  I  stopped  my 
horse  and  looked  the  country  over.  Yes,  I  could  see  Indians  all  around 
the  Fort  and  while  it  looked  to  be  a  dangerous  ride,  I  finally  made  another 
dash  and  when  I  had  traveled  about  a  half  mile,  I  saw  a  white  man  come 
out  of  the  ground  on  top  of  a  high  hill  to  my  left,  he  yelled  in  a  loud 
voice  for  me  to  come  to  him.  I  went  as  fast  as  my  horse  could  travel. 
When  I  reached  this  soldier,  he  opened  a  door  and  led  my  horse  into  a 
tunnel,  then  he  told  be  to  go  forward  at  full  speed,  that  the  tunnel  ran 
into  the  Fort.  I  was  soon  before  the  commanding  officer  who  grabbed 
me  as  a  mother  would  her  baby  and  said  "You  have  saved  us  from  exter- 
mination." The  pickets  about  this  time  reported  the  Indians  were  fleeing 
in  all  directions  and  when  the  gates  of  the  Fort  were  thrown  open  we 
could  see  the  front  end  of  our  outfit  coming  over  the  hills.  The  soldiers 
threw  their  hats  high  in  the  air  and  commenced  singing  and  dancing  to 
beat  the  band.  There  weren't  many  soldiers  at  the  Fort,  but  the  few 
who  were  there  could  have  held  out  against  ten  thousand  Indians,  if  they 
had  not  run  out  of  supplies,  but  without  grub  or  ammunition,  no  matter 
how  well  fortified  you  are,  the  enemy  will  get  you  sooner  or  later. 

ANOTHER  FORT  SAVED 
However,  we  had  saved  another  Fort  and  yet  had  one  more  to  save 
before  we  could  start  on  our  homeward  journey.  After  resting  three 
days  the  commanding  officer  told  us  he  was  expecting  three  regiments 
coming  over  another  road  from  the  one  we  had  traveled  and  that  as  soon 
as  they  arrived  he  would  give  us  a  strong  escort.  The  weather  was  very 
threatening  and  the  wagonmaster  decided  to  go  forward  so  we  started. 
We  were  told  that  when  we  had  meandered  around  the  side  of  the 
mountain  for  fifteen  miles  we  would  be  at  the  top  of  a  mountain  but  we 
would  not  be  more  than  four  or  five  miles  from  the  Fort,  and  that  the 
Indians  would  be  almost  sure  to  attack  us  at   the  top  of  the  mountain. 


-[301 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


0* 

or 

O 


[31] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


He  increased  our  escort  as  much  as  he  could  but  he  said  they  could  only  go 
to  the  top  of  the  mountain  and  when  we  had  reached  the  top  and  had 
not  yet  seen  an  Indian,  but  had  seen  pony  tracks  in  the  road,  the  com- 
manding officer  of  the  extra  escort  said  he  thought  the  Indians  had  de- 
cided not  to  attack  us  and  that  he  would  return.  Our  wagonmaster  told 
me  to  ride  over  to  the  high  point  and  search  the  country  over  for  Indians. 

When  I  first  put  my  glasses  before  my  eyes,  I  thought  we  were  out  of 
danger,  but  I  saw  the  whole  country  except  a  beautiful  valley  some  two 
miles  ahead  was  covered  with  scrub  oaks  and  much  brush  and  large  rocks, 
and  trails  where  the  Indians'  ponies  could  travel  so  I  made  another  search 
and  saw  several  small  bands  of  Indians  not  more  than  a  half  mile  away. 
Soon  I  discovered  more  than  200  over  a  mile  away,  but  they  were  all 
moving  in  one  direction,  which  I  thought  would  make  a  junction  two  to 
three  miles  ahead  of  us.  I  megaphoned  the  wagonmaster  to  hold  on  until 
I  come  in,  and  when  I  had  told  him  what  I  had  seen  and  the  other  scouts 
came  in  with  a  similar  report,  I  was  given  ten  cavalrymen  and  told  to  go 
forward  and  select  a  place  to  camp.  We  rode  down  to  the  valley  and  the 
whip  was  thrown  into  the  oxen  so  we  could  get  in  camp  before  dark, 
when  we  had  selected  a  place  to  camp  we  noticed  a  half  dozen  Indians 
come  over  a  hill  with  a  white  cloth  on  a  pole.  We  got  our  rifles  in  posi- 
tion for  quick  action  and  as  they  came  closer  they  showed  us  they  had  no 
arms  and  when  they  were  in  speaking  distance  I  spoke  out  aloud  in  English 
for  them  to  dismount  and  for  one  to  come  forward. 

CROW  INDIANS  WARNED  US  TO  TURN  BACK  OR  WE 
WOULD  BE  MASSACRED 
They  obeyed  the  command  instantly  because  there  were  ten  rifles 
pointed  at  them  and  when  the  leader  came  forward  he  said  "Me  good 
Crow  Indian,  me  no  fight  white  man,"  and  he  pointed  back  to  the  other 
Indians  and  said,  "All  good  Crow  Indians,  no  fight  white  man". 

I  then  told  him  he  was  a  white  man  and  he  said  "No,  me  no  white 
man,  me  good  Crow  Indian",  but  I  believe  now  he  was  a  white  man. 
However,  the  outfit  was  close  by.      I  invited  these  Indians  to  come 

into  camp  and  eat  supper  with  us.     They  came  and  ate  as  if  they  were 
putting  in  a  winter  supply. 

BULL  WHACKERS  TRADE  SUGAR  FOR  FURS 
In  the  meantime  the  bullwhackers  were  moving  about  with  their 
fingers  on  the  trigger  so  that  if  we  were  attacked,  that  they  could  put  the 
light  out  of  the  spies,  as  we  would  have  no  time  to  watch  them  when 
defending  an  attack  by  hostile  Indians.  However,  the  moon  came  up  and 
it  was  almost  as  light  as  day  and  all  at  once  these  Indians  commenced 
pulling  furs  from  under  their  blankets,  there  were  many  of  them.  The 
bullwhackers  traded  them  sugar  and  other  knicknacks  and  got  most  of 
their  furs.  We -were  then  only  nine  miles  from  Red  Mountain,  which  I 
had  seen  when  searching  the  country  over  on  the  top  of  the  mountain. 
We  had  just  come  over  and  as  these  Crow  Indians  had  told  us  that  the 

[321 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


warring  Indians  would  kill  all  of  us  and  burn  our  outfit  before  we  got 
past  Red  Mountain,  we  decided  to  wait  two  days  for  reinforcements  but 
at  the  end  of  the  two  days  we  had  received  no  reinforcements.  The 
wagonmaster  in  chief  said,  "Boys,  you  hired  to  go  to  Fort  C.  F.  Smith  and 
we  must  go  forward."  The  bull  whackers  said,  "We  are  bound  for  Fort 
C.  F.  Smith  or  bust." 

VERY  BAD  ROADS  AHEAD  AND  MANY  INDIANS 

We  started  and  were  compelled  to  move  very  slowly  because  we  had  to 
travel  along  the  foot  of  a  mountain  which  was  also  covered  with  scrub 
oak,  underbrush  and  rocks.  The  artillery  was  throwing  shells  over  the 
mountainside  and  the  escort  was  firing  scattering  shots  at  anything  they 
saw  moving  in  the  brush.  We  found  a  spot  which  was  a  half  mile  from 
the  foot  of  the  mountain  and  went  into  camp  until  4:00  o'clock  the  next 
afternoon.  The  wagonmaster  told  me  to  go  ahead  and  inspect  the  road. 
I  reported  soon  that  it  was  very  bad  and  he  then  sent  men  ahead  with 
picks  and  shovels  to  make  repairs.  We  went  into  camp  again  but  the 
weather  was  very  threatening  and  it  was  then  snowing  and  about  12:00 
o'clock  that  night  the  moon  came  up  and  the  wagonmaster  ordered  the 
outfit  to  go  forward  and  as  the  road  was  in  bad  condition  we  moved 
slowly  having  many  repairs  to  make.  About  4:00  a.  m.  the  officer  in 
command  of  the  escort  and  the  wagonmaster  in  chief,  sent  out  scouts  on 
foot  to  scour  the  side  of  Red  Mountain  for  Indians  and  at  daylight  the 
officer  in  command  of  the  escort  sent  two  pickets  to  the  top  of  Red 
Mountain  with  instructions  to  fire  severals  shots  if  they  discovered  any 
Indians. 

INDIANS  KILL  PICKETS  WITH  ARROWS 

I  was  sent  ahead  to  examine  the  road  at  the  place  where  we  would 
turn  down  into  a  beautiful  valley.  I  soon  returned  with  the  information 
that  there  was  about  300  feet  of  the  road  which  we  could  not  get  over 
without  holding  the  wagons  with  ropes.  At  about  6:00  o'clock  we  were 
moving  the  wagons  around  the  danger  points  by  holding  them  with  ropes 
to  prevent  them  turning  over  and  rolling  down  to  the  bottom,  a  distance 
of  over  100  feet,  which  would  have  killed  our  oxen,  and  we  would  have 
also  lost  the  entire  load  of  supplies. 
INDIANS  CAPTURED  SEVEN  WAGONS  AT  RED  MOUNTAIN 

The  first  two  wagons  to  pass  the  danger  point  were  two  Govern- 
ment ambulances,  each  drawn  by  four  mules,  which  were  loaded  with 
supplies  for  our  escort,  and  after  we  had  safely  passed  most  of  our  oxen 
teams  around  to  safety  the  three  cannon  and  the  17  men  who  were  man- 
ning the  artillery  went  forward  around-  the  paint  and  they  were  then 
stationed  close  by  so  as  to  protect  the  men  who  were  holding  the  wagons 
while  they  were  going  around  the  danger  point,  and  as  every  one  of  the 
escort  was  doing  their  best  to  assist,  the  same  as  if  they  were  hired  bull- 
whackers,  in  fact.  It  was  a  very  busy  time  as  we  had  received  no  news 
from  the  pickets,  who  were  sent  to  the  top  of  the  mountain  with  instruc- 
tions to  fire  several  shots  if  they  saw  hostile  Indians,  the  wagonmaster 
thought  we  were  quite  safe. 

[33] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


INDIANS  COULD  HAVE  MASSACRED  US 
The  two  government  ambulances  had  gone  down  the  valley  fully 
one  fourth  of  a  mile,  and  as  the  ground  beyond  the  danger  points  was 
level  and  extended  back  nearly  a  half  mile,  which  ground  was  covered 
with  fine  grass,  that  is,  it  was  what  they  called  bunch  grass,  the  ox  teams 
helped  around  the  danger  point,  were  stopped  within  about  two  hundred 
yards  of  the  mule  teams  as  other  ox  teams  were  helped  around,  they  too 
Were  driven  down  near  the  mule  teams,  so  our  outfit  was  in  bad  shape 
for  one  to  form  into  a  corrall  quickly.  However,  it  was  now  past  10:00 
a.  m.,  and  no  news  from  the  pickets  who  were  sent  to  the  top  of  the 
mountain  early  in  the  morning  with  instructions  to  fire  several  shots  if 
they  discovered  Indians,  Our  wagonmaster  and  the  officer  in  command 
of  the  escort  were  apparently  very  much  annoyed  because  the  pickets  had 
not  come  in,  the  job  of  holding  the  wagons  was  most  over,  there  being 
only  eight  or  ten  more  to  assist  around  the  danger  point,  the  wagonmaster- 
in-chief  told  the  writer  to  go  forward  and  corrall  the  outfit,  so  I  yelled  out 
as  loud  as  I  could  to  go  ahead.  All  the  bullwhackers  sent  the  order  down 
the  line,  and  as  I  rode  on  to  the  front  of  the  outfit  the  bullwhackers  were 
swinging  and  popping  their  whips  in  a  joyous  mood. 

THE  INDIANS  LOST  THEIR  HEADS 
I  rushed  the  job,  corralling  the  train,  tongues  inside  as  was  our  custom 
and  when  I  was  about  half  through  corralling  the  outfit,  I  heard  a  rapid 
gunfire  back  in  the  rear  and  the  arrows  were  falling  close  to  us  and 
several  hundred  mounted  Indians  came  .down  a  canyon  only  a  short 
distance  from  where  the  mule  teams  were  and  they  killed  the  drivers, 
and  the  whole  band  started  after  the  two-mule  teams.  There  were  five 
wagons  loaded  with  settlers'  goods  which  were  yet  to  be  brought  around 
the  danger  point,  they  were  also  captured  by  the  Indians.  Our  pickets  had 
been  killed  with  arrows,  is  why  we  received  no  report  from  them.  The 
wagon  road  ran  close  up  to  the  foot  of  the  mountain,  which  was  almost 
perpendicular  and  covered  with  scrub  oaks  and  large  rocks.  An  Indian  on 
top  of  the  mountain  could  fire  an  arrow,  which  he  fired  in  the  air,  so  it 
would  fall  in  the  valley  and  those  who  were  close  to  the  danger  point  had 
no  chance  of  escape.  There  must  have  been  over  1,000  Indians  who  had 
crawled  down  close  to  the  road  because  there  was  hardly  a  foot  of  ground 
which  was  missed.  In  fact,  it  was  a  hail  of  arrows  but  they  did  not 
reach  the  bullwhackers  who  were  corralling  the  train.  They  did,  however, 
kill  the  17  artillery  men  and  all  told  52  of  our  escort  was  killed.  The 
men  driving  the  artillery  had  hitched  up  their  mules  and  were  ready  to  go 
forward  when  the  arrows  commenced  falling.  The  mules  started  on  the 
run  toward  the  cprrall,  and  they  got  close  to  the  corrall  before  they 
commenced  to  fall.  I  really  believe  some  of  them  were  hit  fifty  times 
with  arrows,  and  not  an  Indian  had  been  seen  except  those  who  captured 
the  supply  teams  which  were  in  front  of  the  outfit. 


[34] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVE R 


THE  INDIANS  WERE  BADLY  OFFICERED 
Had  the  Indians  not  been  fools  they  could  have  killed  every  man  in 
the  outfit.  But  in  place  of  running  down  on  us  in  force  they  came  out 
of  the  brush  and  ran  to  the  five  wagons  they  had  cut  off  and  captured 
which  gave  me  and  the  bullwhackers  time  to  corrall  the  outfit  and  unload 
the  shelled  sacked  corn  which  we  piled  under  the  wagons  for  breastworks. 
It  was  about  an  hour  after  the  first  attack  before  the  Indians  made  the 
slightest  attempt  to  attack  the  outfit  and  as  we  had  corralled  the  train 
nearly  one-fourth  mile  from  the  foot  of  the  mounain  and  that  the  Indians 
must  come  out  in  the  open  if  they  wanted  to  make  an  effective  attack 
they  were  so  yellow  that  they  couid  not  face  the  150  Henry  rifles  and 
other  good  firearm's  which  were  in  the  tfands  of  as  brave  men  as  ever 
protected  a  Fort,  and  every  man  was  cool  and  determined  to  hit  the  object 
he  was  firing  at,  then  too,  we  were  protected  by  our  wagons  and  the 
corn  we  had  piled  under  them.  The  wagonmaster  in  chief  was  busy 
keeping  the  men  encouraged.  I  was  standing  behind  the  end  of  the  last 
wagon  with  my  field  glasses  watching  the  Indians  unload  the  five  settler 
wagons  and  carrying  away  the  freight.  I  could  see  the  Indians  piling 
dry  brush  under  the  wagons  and  soon  it  commenced  to  burn  and  a  great 
Indian  yell  was  heard  which  sounded  as  though  there  were  thousands 
of  them  yelling  and  as  the  wagons  burned  the  Indians  seemed  to  be 
coming  down  to  the  very  foot  of  the  mountain,  so  we  were  expecting 
they  would  soon  make  a  dash  to  capture  us. 

WE  FOOLED   THE    INDIANS   BY   FIRING   OUR   FIRST   SHOT 

WITHOUT  EFFECT 
When  they  started  out  of  the  brush  as  if  they  were  coming  on  us  \k 
did  not  fire  a  shot  until  quite  a  few  of  them  were  fully  fifty  to  a  hundr: 
yards  from  the,  brush  and  as  they  were  crawling  on  the  ground  and  the 
most  of  them  had  a  shield  in  front  of  them  our  first  two  or  thee  shots 
did  not  hit  an  Indian!     We  then  ceased  firing,  thinking  those  in  front 
would  get  up  and  run  toward  us  and  that  they  would  draw  several  hun- 
dred more  out  in  the  open.     We  wanted  to  see  them   fall  because  \7hen 
you  shoot  an  Indian  he  will  jump  xip  in  the  air  and   give  a  loud  yell. 
This,  they  say,  is  done  so  another  Indian  will  drop  down  on  his  hands 
and  feet  and  still  another  Indian  will  put  the  body  on  the  back  of  the 
Indian  on  his  hands  and  feet  and  back  for  the  brush  he  goes     rith   his 
comrade. 

My  dear  reader,  you  may  wonder  why  we  wasted  more  than  100 
bullets  when  we  could  have  killed  every  Indian  who  was  out  in  the 
open  but  had  you  been  an  eye  witness  for  five  minutes  more  you  would 
have  said  we  were  well  officered,  because  we  drew  five  hundred  of  them  out 
of  the  brush  and  they  did  fall  thick  and  fast  without  hardly  firing  a  shot 
because  the  very  first  volley  we  fired  seemed  to  scare  the  life  out  of  them 
but  not  all,  of  course.  A  lot  of  them  did  not  need  scaring,  they  were  do'fan 
and  out. 


[35 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


Note  figure  on  Cut  No.  1  where  wagons  were  held  with  ropes  to 
prevent  them  turning  over  while  going  around  danger  point.  No.  2 — 
Bend  in  river.  No.  3 — Location  of  pickets  killed  with  arrows.  No.  4 — 
Two-mule  teams  captured  by  Indians.  No.  5 — Corral.  No.  6 — Location 
of  three  cannons  before  Indians  attack  outfit.  No.  7 — Five  freight  wagons 
captured  by  Indians.  No.  8^Condition  of  outfit  when  Indians  make 
first  attack.  No.  9 — Canyon  where  over  700  Indians  rush  out  at  first 
attack.  No.  10 — Road.  No.  11 — Canyon  alive  with  Indians  who  fire 
thousands  of  arrows  upwards  so  they  will  fall  on  our  men  killing  over 
50  first  volley. 


[36] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


OUR  COOKS  MADE  COFFEE  WHILE  FIGHT  WAS  ON 
After  this  scrap  the  cooks  built  a  fire  and  made  a  lot  of  coffee  and  we 
in  turn  ate  and  drank  coffee  and  waited  for  developments,  but  not  another 
attack  was  attempted  until  about  8:00  p.  m.,  when  it  had  gotten  very 
dark  and  it  looked  much  like  rain  or  snow.  However,  now  and  then  the 
clouds  would  roll  off  the  biggest  moon  you  ever  saw  and  you  bet  we  were* 
glad  no  matter  if  it  was  only  for  a  moment  at  a  time  but  we  could  hear 
the  squaws  beating  many  Indian  drums  and  we  knew  trouble  was  near 
at  hand,  we  were  all  ready,  I  think  it  was  just  about  8:30  p.  m.  when 
the  moon  was  uncovered  for  only  a  moment.  In  that  moment  we  dis- 
covered the  ground  covered  with  Indians  crawling  toward  us,  it  would 
be  hard  to  say  how  many  there  were,  but  we  commenced  preparing  for  a 
hand  to  hand  fight  and  just  as  the  Indians  gave  the  first  yell  the  blessed 
loon  came  out  as  bright  as  any  daylight  I  ever  saw,  and  as  the  Indians 
rose  to  their  feet  they  went  down  and  the  most  deadly  fire  ever  caused 
by  the  pulling  of  a  trigger  was  then  on,  and  while  seven  Indians  had 
\  often  inside  the  corrall  and  they  did  not  return,  there  were  many  of  the 
front  line  within  twenty  yards  of  us.  Not  an  Indian  came  out  of  the 
brush  after  we  fired  the  first  shot  but  they  beat  it  back  out  of  sight.  One 
of  the  seven  mentioned  above  was  crawling  over  the  top  of  a  wagon  and  as 
he  started  to  look  down  toward  the  ground  one  of  the  bullwhackers 
placed  an  old  fashioned  army  musket  against  his  ne<-K  and  pulled  the 
trigger.  Say,  boy,  Mr.  Indian  rolled  down  inside  the  coral  without  even 
saying  you  got  me.     The  other  six  were  found  under  the  wagons. 

ONLY  ONE  BULL  WHACKER  LOST  HIS  NERVE 
There  was  only  one  man  so  far  as  I  heard  who  gave  up  hopes  that 
we  would  win  out  in  the  end  and  when  he  kneeled  down  and  commenced 
praying  aloud  a  bullwhacker  hit  him  over  the  head  with  a  six  shooter  and 
told  him  to  go  to  shooting  Indians  or  he  would  be  full  of  holes  in  a 
minute.  From  that  time  on  he  gave  a  good  account  of  himself.  The 
moon  shined  and  the  skies  remained  clear  until  after  10:00  o'clock. 

$500.00  FOR  A  MAN  TO  GO  FOR  REINFORCEMENTS 
The  wagonmaster  in  "chief  thought  it  was  his  duty  to  send  a  man 
back  to  Fort  Philkarney  for  reinforcements.  He  offered  $500.00  to  any 
man  willing  to  take  a  chance.  A  man  came  to  me  and  said  "I  will  go 
if  you  let  me  ride  your  horse."  I  said,  "Take  him,"  and  in  a  moment  he 
dashed  out  of  the  corral,  six  shooter  in  each  hand,  and  bridle  reins 
in  his  mouth,  we  poured  a  rapid  fire  in  front  of  him  until  he  got  around 
the  point  of  Red  Mountain  and  by  this  time  one  of  the  bullwhackers  had 
learned  to  fire  the  cannon  and  had  also  trained  other  men  and  they  nearly 
burned  up  the  barrels  of  the  cannon  throwing  shells  in  front  and  over 
the  man's  head  until  he  was  half  a  mile  away,  and  we  felt  he  had  a  chance 
because  he  was  riding  one  of  the  best  horses  ever  a  man  mounted.  To 
travel  the  short  cut  he  would  arrive  by  11:30  o'clock,  because  it  would 
only  be  about  sixteen  or  eighteen  miles.    However,  he  reached  the  Fort  just 


1^38] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


before  12:00  o'clock  and  three  regiments  of  reinforcements  had  arrived 
that  afternoon.  The  commanding  officer  ordered  a  regiment  of  cavalry 
and  one  of  the  infantry  to  go  forward  at  once  to  our  aid.  Every  time 
the  clouds  would  cover  up  the  moon  all  during  the  night  the  Indians 
would  come  down  to  the  edge  of  the  brush  but  they  were  afraid  to  take 
a  chance  on  the  clouds  uncovering  the  moon  at  the  critical  moment,  be- 
cause they  knew  they  could  not  get  near  us  when  the  moon  was  un- 
covered. 

NEAR  DAYLIGHT,  INDIANS  BY  THE  THOUSANDS  IN  SIGHT 
Just  before  daylight  I  believe  they  were  getting  ready  to  make  a 
final  dash  but  at  that  moment  we  heard  many  shots  fired  and  heard 
the  sound  of  horses  running  and  we  knew  th'ey  were  not  Indian  ponies 
because  they  are  not  shod  and  make  no  noise  when  running.  In  a  few 
moments  we  could  see  the  Cavalry  coming  and  when  the  officer  in  com- 
mand charged  up  to  the  rear  end  of  the  outfit  I  was  one  of  the  first  to 
meet  them,  because  I  wanted  to  see  my  horse. 

REINFORCEMENTS  ARRIVED  AT  DAYLIGHT 
When  the  officer  had  dismounted  the  first  word  he  uttered  was  "Who 
sent  that  false  report  to  the  Fort,"  and  when  we  had  led  him  around  to 
where  many  of  the  dead  soldiers  lay  be  yelled  out  aloud,  "My  sister's 
boy,"  referring  to  the  dead  officer  who  was  killed  with  arrows,  the  first 
volley  the  Indians  fired  from  the  mountain  side.  This  officer  then  turned 
to  the  second  officer  in  command  and  told  him  to  take  500  men  and  follow 
the  Indians  and  exterminate  them.  They  started  out  but  after  a  few 
hours  they  returned  saying  the  Indians  were  going  into  camp.  He  said 
there  were  so  many  of  them  that  with  1,500  men  he  would  not  attack 
them. 

We  remained  in  camp  at  the  foot  of  Red  Mountain  for  three  more 
days,  when  we  started  forward  toward  Fort  C.  F.  Smith  with  an  increased 
escort. 

Friendly  Indians  came  into  our  camp  several  times  with  a  message 
from  the  Indians  on  the  War  path  and  told  us  that  the  Indian  chiefs  said 
they  did  not  want  to  kill  our  bullwhackers,  but  if  we  did  not  turn  back 
that  we  would  all  be  killed  before  we  reached  Fort  C.  F.  Smith.  Our 
wagonmaster-in-chief  said  he  was  going  to  deliver  the  freight  at  Fort  C. 
F.  Smith  if  we  had  to  kill  all  the  Indians  in  the  country  and  he  made  good 
so  far  as  delivering  the  freight  was  concerned. 


[39] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


HERE'S    WHERE    I    KILL    MY   FIRST    BEAR   AND    CAPTURE 

•      TWO  CUBS 

Just  as  we  were  going  into  camp  the  first  evening  after  leaving  Red 
Mountain  our  front  picket  came  in  and  told  me  that  an  old  bear  and  two 
smaller  ones  had  crossed  the  road  a  few  minutes  ago  and  that  they  were 
headed  up  the  canyon.  As  I  had  long  wanted  to  kill  a  bear,  I  asked  the 
wagonmaster-in-chief  to  give  me  two  men  for  a  little  while,  saying  I 
wanted  to  kill  a  bear,  which  he  did,  and  he  also  said  that  we  would  stand 
a  good  chance  of  being  filled  with  arrows. 

However,  there  was  a  small  stream  of  water  coming  down  the  canyon 
and  a  trail  running  along  the  edge  of  the  bank  which  was  about  fifty  feet 
above  the  water,  and  as  a  light  snow  was  falling,  the  bear  tracks  were 
quite  easily  followed.  After  we  had  traveled  a  fourth  of  a  mile  the  tracks 
were  quite  fresh,  they  separated  from  the  old  bear  going  up  the  hill  and 
the  small  ones  going  down  toward  the  water.  So,  we  decided  to  separate 
and  one  of  the  other  men  went  down  toward  the  water  and  the  other  to 
the  top  of  the  hill  while  I  followed  the  trial  on  up  the  canyon.  When 
I  had  walked  one  hundred  yards  I  discovered  two  small  bears  playing  in 
the  edge  of  the  water  and  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  creek.  Of  course,  I 
wanted  to  catch  the  little  ones  alive.  I  fired  a  shot  intending  the  ball  to 
pass  just  over  their  heads  and  strike  the  bank  behind  them,  which  I 
thought  would  cause  them  to  hide  in  the  grass,  but  just  as  I  pulled  the 
trigger,  one  of  the  baby  bears  ran  his  little  foot  up  over  his  head  and  the 
ball  cut  the  end  of  one  toe  and  when  he  slapped  his  foot  in  the  water,  I 
could  see  it  was  bloodstained.  He  started  crying  similar  to  a  human  baby. 
The  other  small  bear  squatted  down  in  the  grass  just  as  little  pigs  do 
when  they  are  scared.  At  this  moment  I  heard  the  chaparal  brush 
cracking  up  near  the  top  of  the  hill  and  at  first  I  thought  it  was  one  of 
my  partners  but  soon  I  saw  it  was  the  old  bear  rolling  over  and  over  and 
about  100  yards  away  she  would  run  along  the  side  of  the  hill  which  was 
very  steep  for  a  few  yards  and  then  she  would  roll  over  again,  all  the  time 
coming  nearer  to  me.  I  watched  my  chance  for  a  broadside  shot  and 
fired  a  ball  which  I  thought  would  strike  her  behind  the  left  shoulder, 
and  it  did  hit  her  there  but  she  only  came  with  greater  speed  toward  me.  I 
fired  again  and  again  but  she  kept  coming  and  when  she  was  only  thirty 
feet  away  I  fired  again,  and  the  ball  struck  her  between  the  eyes.  She 
dropped  dead.  I  had  often  heard  that  mother  bears  were  very  hard  to  kill 
dead  when  they  were  coming  to  aid  their  young.  And  when  this  one 
had  been  skinned  it  was  found  that  every  shot  I  fired  hit  her  and  that  the 
first  ball  went  clear  through  the  body  and  should  have  caused  instant 
death. 

I  then  jumped  over  the  bank  and  picked  up  the  two  young  ones 
while  the  other  two  men  were  planning  as  to  how  they  could  best  get 
the  old  bear  back  to  camp.  They  remained  on  guard  while  I  returned 
and  sent  back  a  large  Government  mule,  upon  who's  back  they  brought 
in  the  game  and  we  had  a  feast  of  fresh  meat. 

[40] 


THE     LIFE    OF     A     ROVER 


There  was  plenty  of  wild  game  along  the  road,  that  is,  near  the  road, 
but  the  darned  Indians  were  hidden  behind  rocks  and  in  the  brush  so  thick 
that  it  was  not  safe  to  take  a  chance  looking  for  anything  but  Indians. 
The  two  young  bear  I  gave  to  the  commanding  officers  at  Fort  Philkarney 
on  our  way  back  to  the  U.  P.  R.  R.  I  heard  afterwards  that  one  of 
them  died  and  that  the  other  one  was  sent  to  Chicago. 

The  entire  road  from  Red  Mountain  to  Fort  C.  F.  Smith  was  better 
than  any  road  we  had  before  encountered  and  as  there  were  no  scrub 
oaks,  rocks  or  brush  near  the  road  for  Indians  to  hide  behind  we  had 
very  little  trouble  with  them  except  that  every  now  and  then  we  woul/i 
see  bands  numbering  up  to  several  hundred  which  would  necessitate  cor- 
ralling the  outfit  and  the  loss  of  from  a  half  hour  to  two  days.  No  doubt, 
the  Indians  planned  to  attack  us  several  times  but  there  was  too  much 
open  ground,  between  us  and  their  nearest  hiding  place. 
IN  SIGHT  OF  FORT  C.  F.  SMITH 

However,  after  several  days  travel  we  came  in  sight  of  Fort  C.  F. 
Smith,  and  went  into  camp  because  we  dare  not  attempt  to  pass  through 
the  lowlands,  which  were  close  to  us,  untildaylight.  We  believed  there 
was  but  little  ammunition  at  the  Fort  or  they  would  have  sent  an  escort 
to  meet  us.  The  following  morning  at  daylight  we  started  and  as  we 
went  down  the  hill  into  the  lowlands  I-sat  on  my  horse  searching  the 
country  over  for  Indians  and  could  see  them  leaving  the  lowlands  in 
bunches.  They  had  given  up  the  job  and  the  wagonmaster  gave  orders 
for  the  outfit  to  go  forward  with  all  possible  speed  because  we  knew  that 
the  Indians  might  at  any  moment  make  a  dash  for  the  rear  end  of  the 
outfit.  When  we  were  in  about  one  and  one-^half  miles  of  the  Fort  the 
wagonmaster  told  me  to  make  a  dash  to  the  Fort,  that  they  might  expect 
us  soon  to  arrive  and  as  the  outfit  would  have  to  come  around  a  high  hill 
we  could  not  be  seen  until  we  were  almost  at  the  entrance  of  the  Fort. 

When  the  soldiers  saw  me  coming  on  the  dead  run  they  said  they 
thought  the  rest  of  the  outfit  had  been  massacred,  and  I  alone  had  es- 
caped, because  they  said  the  whole  country  was  alive  with  warring  In- 
dians, but  when  I  had  reached  the  commanding  officer  and  told  him  the 
outfit  was  safe  and  would  be  in  sight  very  soon  he  and  all  the  men  gave 
three  cheers  for  the  expedition  and  then  gave  three  cheers  for  me.  They 
unsaddled  my  horse  and  threw  blankets  over  him  and  petted  him  as  a 
mother  would  her  baby.  They  gave  him  water  and  rubbed  his  legs 
with  dry  cloths.  Soon  the  outfit  was  coming  around  the  hill  and  another 
yell  went  up  and  the  band  commenced  to  play.  The  tears  rolled  down 
the  checks  of  the  officers  when  they  were  telling  me  how  short  they  were 
of  everything  that  even  their  horses  were  almost  starved. 

When  the  front  of  the  outfit  was  near  the  entrance  the  gates  opened 
and  the  almost  starved  soldiers  rushed  out  to  get  a  bite  to  eat,  the  only 
question  they  asked  was,  where  is  the  bacon  and  crackers?  We  were  all 
entertained  that  night  to  the  fullest  extent  of  a  soldier's  ability. 


141] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


r^vn 


Indians  attacking  a  fort. 


[42] 


THE      LIFE     OF      A      ROVER 

The  Fort  was  near  the  bank  of  a  beautiful  stream  of  water  which  I 
believe  they  called  the  North  Branch  of  Little  Big  Horn  River.  There 
was  plenty  of  good  grass  for  our  tired  cattle.  We  rested  about  three  days 
and  were  glad  to  start  back  to  the  U.  P.  R.  R.  Our  wagons  were  not 
loaded  and  we  made  much  better  time  going  back,  but  on  account  of  snow 
falling  more  or  less  day  and  night,  it  was  hard  for  our  oxen  to  find  the 
grass.  The  Indians  were  often  seen  in  small  bands  but  the  only  thing 
they  tried  to  do  was  to  stampede  the  herd,  which  they  failed  in  doing 
— only  once  did  it  look  like  they  might  cut  off  about  one  hundred  head, 
but  we  beat  them  to  it.  The  cattle  were  grazing  a  half  mile  or  more 
from  camp.  It  was  then  about  noon  and  the  sun  was  shining  bright. 
The  wagonmaster  said  we  would  not  pull  out  until  early  in  the  morning. 
THREE  OF  US  KILL  AN  INDIAN  CHIEF  AND  WHIP  30  MORE 

I  was  instructed  to  take  two  men  and  go  to  a  high  hill  beyond  the 
herd  and  search,  with  my  field  glasses,  for  Indians.  While  We  were  look- 
ing the  country  over  we  saw  an  Indian  ride  up  on  top  of  a  high  hill.  He 
was  fully  one  and  one-half  miles  away  and  he  had  a  very  bright  saber  in 
his  hand  and  was  pointing  it  in  many  directions.  We  knew  there  were 
more  Indians  close  by  us,  so  we  motioned  the  herders  to  start  the  cattle 
for  camp  at  once,  but  there  was  about  a  hundred  head  which  were  to  one 
side  and  they  did  not  seem  to  move  as  fast  as  the  rest  of  the  herd.  We 
gave  another  order  to  rush  them  in  and  the  three  of  us  went  to  a  big  tree, 
near  the  bank  of  a  creek,  where  a  coarse  tall  grass  had  grown  up  and  as 
this  Indian  would  ride  down  closer,  sometimes  on  the  dead  run,  and  then 
wave  his  saber  as  before,  we,  of  course,  thought  there  were  Indians  hidden 
in  the  tall  grass.  So,  we  left  our  horses  and  started  crawling  directly 
toward  this  lone  Indian  who  was  then  one-fourth  mile  away.  When 
we  found  a  buffalo  wallow  with  the  tall  grass  grown  up  all  around  the 
edge,  we  stopped  and  made  ready,  with  our  three  Henry  rifles,  to  get  this 
lone  Indian  when  he  had  come  a  little  closer.  Soon  we  saw  several  more 
Indians,  on  top  of  a  divide  not  far  from  where  the  lone  Indian  was  sit- 
ting on  his  pony,  and  I  could  then  see  his  eyes  with  my  field  glasses.  We 
were  about  ready  to  fire  on  him  when  thirty  Indians  charged  over  the 
divide  and  they  all  started  straight  for  the  spot  where  we  were  hidden. 
When  the  leader  was  within  one  hundred  yards  of  us  he  stopped  and 
straightened  up  as  if  to  have  his  picture  taken.  The  three  Henry  rifles 
cracked  and  the  second  shot  dropped  his  horse  and  the  third  went  into 
the  bunch,  which  was  seventy-five  to  a  hundred  yards  behind  their 
leader.  If  ever  a  bunch  of  cowards  ran,  it  was  the  few  left  of  that  band 
of  about  thirty  Indians.  *Of  course,  our  rapid  fire  brought  out  the. 
best  men  in  the  outfit.  I  rushed  back  and  mounted  my  horse  and  helped 
the  herders  drive  in  the  cattle.  The  other  two  men  scalped  the  dead  In- 
dian and  got  his  bow  and  arrows,  saber  knife  and  his  beautiful  beaded 
tobacco  sack,  full  of. Indian  tobacco,  which  they  gave  to  me.  1  kept  it 
over  forty  years.  It  was  finally  stolen  from  me  by  a  beautiful  lady  who 
said  she  loved  me  because  of  my  beautiful,  big  blue  eyes,  and  many  other 
reasons. 

[43] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


ldl>f 


A  brave  Indian  chief. 


[44] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


The  above  was  our  last  scrap  worth  mentioning.  We  saw  but  very 
few  hostile  bands. 

As  we  passed  the  Forts,  our  expedition  had  saved,  the  soldiers  came 
out  with  bands  of  music  and  shook  hands  with  us,  wishing  us  a  safe  re- 
turn, and  thanking  us  many  times  for  the  risk  we  had  taken  to  save  them 
from  annihilation  by  Indians  or  starvation. 

The  snow  was  falling  heavily  the  morning  we  drove  into  Cheyenne, 
as  it  had  been  for  several  days  before  and  the  night  before.  We  had 
traveled  all  night,  making  the  best  time  we  could. 

Soon  after  we  arrived  at  Cheyenne,  the  paymaster  came  into  camp 
and  paid  us  off,  and  after  thanking  the  expedition  to  the  fullest  extent  of 
his  ability,  he  said,  "I  am  more  than  proud  to  see  you  return  in  such  ex- 
cellent health,  and  I  assure  you  that  your  names  will  go  down  in  history 
for  the  excellent  service  you  have  rendered;  the  fact  that  you  lost  but  two 
bullwhackers,  killed  by  the  Indians,  proves  to  my  mind  that  your  leaders 
and  scouts  were  worthy  of  their  job,  and  I  now  desire  to  ofler  an  extra 
word  in  favor  of  the  young  man  called  DAN,  THE  INDIAN  SCOUT, 
and  whom  I  am  informed,  through  reading  the  chief  wagonmaster's  re- 
port, was  your  chief-of-scouts,  and  I  further  understand  that  he  is  the 
one  who  corralled  the  outfit  and  directed  the  bullwhackers  throughout 
the  desperate  battle  at  Red  Mountain,  and  I  am  further  informed  through 
said  report  that  your  chief-of-scouts,  on  several  occasions,  with  great  dan- 
ger of  losing  his  life,  protected  the  cattle  while  grazing  on  the  plains. 
The  discharge,  or  driving  away  of  Charlie  Martin,  your  first  wagon- 
master,  stands  out  as  showing  every  one  was  on  his  job,  and  that  you 
did  not  propose  to  take  the  chance  of  a  leader  who  was  quite  as  dangerous 
as  the  savage  Indians,  who  banded  themselves  together  and  threatened 
to  massacre  every  man  in  the  entire  expedition.  Charlie  Martin  has 
proven,  since  his  return  to  Cheyenne,  that  you  were  warranted  in  hang- 
ing him  at  Fort  Laramie,  since  it  is  a  fact  that  he  has  killed  several  men 
within  the  past  week  or  so.  You  were  fully  warranted  in  believing  him 
to  be  a  very  dangerous  man,  one  who  might  join  the  warring  Indians  at 
a  most  critical  moment,  and  thereby  assist  them  in  exterminating  every 
man  in  your  outfit.  I,  myself,  had  intended  to  go  with  the  outfit  from 
Fort  Laramie  to  Fort  Reno,  if  not  clear  on  through  to  Fort  C.  F.  Smith, 
but  at  the  time  you  were  getting  ready  to  pull  out  I  received  orders  call- 
ing me  back  to  Cheyenne,  and  I  now  assure  you  that  I  welcomed  the 
order,  because  the  commanding  officer  at  the  Fort  had  told  me  that  the 
outfit  had  a  very  slim  chance  of  reaching  even  the  first  objective,  which 
was  Fort  Reno."     We  were  honorably  discharged. 


[45] 


THE      LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


The  commanding  officer  at  Fort  Laramie  informed  me,  that  is  he  in- 
formed the  speaker,  meaning  the  paymaster,  that  he  had  a  very  small 
garrison  and  that  while  our  outfit  should  have  an  escort  of  at  least  one 
thousands  of  them  and  that  if  we  got  in  there  before  it  became  generally 
cannon,  he  could  not  give  the  outfit  an  escort  of  but  two  small  companies 
and  three  small  cannon,  and  that  he  would  not  allow  the  outfit  to  go 
forward  if  it  were  not  for  the  fact  that  the  Forts,  naming  Fort  Reno, 
Fort  Philkarney,  and  Fort  C.  F.  Smith,  would  only  be  able  to  hold  out 
a  short  time,  unless  our  outfit  could  relieve  them.  Their  supplies  of  every 
kind  was  almost  exhausted,  and  he  went  on  to  say  that  the  outfit  was 
well  armed  and  with  150  Henry  rifles,  and  the  other  armament,  like  six 
shooters  and  their  short  repeating  rifles,  for  the  use  of  their  scouts  and 
short-range  fighting.  There  would  be  many  dead  Indians  left  on  the 
ground  before  they  captured  the  outfit. 

DURING  OUR  FIRST  DAY  AT  CHEYENNE 
After  we  had  been  paid  off  and  honorably  discharged,  several  of  us 
met  a  so-called  wise  man,  who  said  he  had  just  come  in  from  the  Black 
Hills,  which,  he  said,  were  about  thirty  miles  west  of  Cheyenne,  and  near 
the  U.  P.  R.  R.,  and  that  on  account  of  the  severe  cold  the  elk  and  deer 
were  coming  into  the  pine  timberlands  for  shelter  and  that  there  were 
thousands  of  them  and  that  if  we  got  in  there  before  it  became  generally 
known,  with  our  Henry  rifles,  we  could  easily  kill  a  thousand  or  so,  al- 
most as  fast  as  we  could  pull  the  trigger,  and  after  inquiring  as  to  the 
value  of  the  hides  and  the  meat,  we  were  led  to  believe  we  could  get  rich 
quick,  and  the  following  morning,  at  an  early  hour,  we  mounted  our 
horses  and  started  for  the  place  this  wise  man  had  said  we  could  build  a 
cabin,  and  with  two  large  pack  mules,  loaded  with  supplies  and  ammuni- 
tion, we  started  on  our  journey,  expecting  to  be  in  camp  early  that  after- 
noon. It  was  showing,  there  was  no  severe  wind  blowing,  but  before 
ten  a.  m.  there  came  up  one  of  the  worst  snow  storms  I  have  ever  ex- 
perienced, and  I  have  been  in  many  bad  ones.  The  snow  was  coming 
from  the  west,  square  in  our  faces,  and  the  wind  blowing  at  not  less  than 
fifty  miles  an  hour.  Our  horses  and  pack  mules  were  hard  to  -control. 
They  wanted  to  turn  back.  Time  and  again  they  seeme>d  determined  to 
return  to  Cheyenne.  We  were  trying  to  follow  the  U.  P.  R.  R.,  which 
we  knew  ran  almost  directly  west  from  Cheyenne.  At  about  one  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  we  came  to  the  place  where  we  were  directed  t©  leave 
the  railroad  track  and  go  into  the  timberlands,  but  we  were  not  sure  as 
to  where  we  were,  because  of  the  blinding  snow.  However,  we  were  not 
willing  to  take  the  advice  of  our  horses,  each  of  them  including  our  wise 
pack  mules,  were  determined  to  turn  back,  and  as  we  reached  the  timber- 
land  we  run  on  to  many  fallen  trees. 


46 


THE      LIFE     O  F     A     ROY  I    R 


WE  WERE  SOON  COMPELLED  TO  ABANDON  OUR  HORSES 
On  account  of  having  become  snowbound,  in  drifts  of  unknown 
depth,  and  in  a  moment  our  horses  and  pack  mules  were  out  of  sight,  and 
we  did  not  know  in  what  direction  they  had  gone,  unless  they  had  .started 
back  towards  Cheyenne.  We  all  managed  to  keep  together,  that  is,  when 
some  of  us  stuck  in  a  snow  bank,  the  others  pulled  them  out,  and  in  this 
way  we  were  climbing  over  dead,  fallen  pine  timber,  and  with  my  com- 
pass we  were  trying  to  get  further  back  into  where  we  expected  to  find 
heavier  timber,  and  hoped  to  find  better  protection  from  the  severe  wind 
and  blinding  snow.  We  had  nothing  left  with  us  but  our  rifles  and  six 
shooters,  and  such  ammunition  as  was  in  our  belts.  Our  pack  mules  were 
carrying  our  blankets,  extra  ammunition,  and  all  our  food.  If  we  had 
not  been  accustomed  to  the  cold  we  would  have  frozen  to  death  in  half 
an  hour,  but  because  of  the  fact  that  we  all  wore  our  fur  caps,  fur  coats, 
and  fur  overshoes,  owr  the  top  of  our  heavy  boots,  the  cold  did  not  seem 
to  effect  us. 

We  meandered  about  as  best  we  coedd,  now  and  then  bunching  up 
together  to  exchange  opinions  as  to  what  to  do  next,  because  we  did  not 
know  where  we  were.  When  we  had  about  made  up  our  minds  to  try 
and  start  a  fire,  we,  by  chance,  ran  up  against  a  deserted  log  cabin,  and 
to  our  great  surprise  there  was  a  fireplace  in  it,  and  lot  of  pitch  pine  wood. 
I  suppose  there  must  have  been  two  cords  of  wood.  Another  surprise 
soon  was  our  luck,  when  the  fire  had  lighted  up  the  room,  we  discovered 
there  were  several  bunks  and  upon  each  one  of  them  we  found  one  to  two 
pairs  of  heavy  blankets.  We  were  not  hungry,  because  we  had  nothing 
to  eat.  Low  and  behold,  one  of  the  boys  discovered  a  sack  of  flour  in 
one  corner,  covered  up  with  wood,  and  with  it  was  several  punds  of 
coffee,  a  large  side  of  bacon,  several  pounds  of  dried  apples,  a  sack  of  some 
fifteen  pounds  of  beans,  and  we  looked  at  it — a  regular  grocery  store. 

We  could  not  figure  out  who  or  why  one  or  more  men  '.ad  left  such 
a  supply  in  a  lonely  cabin  and  while  it  did  not  belong  to  us  we  devoured 
it  as  if  it  were  our  own,  being  willing  to  defend  ourselves  as  best  we 
could  in  case  the  owners  should  come  in.  We  sometimes  came  to  the  con- 
clusion that  the  occupants  had  gone  out  and  frozen  to  death  and  many 
other  reasons  why  we  should  have  the  luck  to  find  such  a  rich  gold  mine 
as  we  often  called  our  find. 


147 


THE  LIFE  OF  A  ROVER 


DAY  BY  DAY  THE  STORM  RAGES 

For  about  one  week,  and  we  find  ourselves  almost  out  of  food.  One 
morning  it  was  decided  we  should  draw  straws  to  see  who  should  go  out 
and  find  one  of  those  thousands  of  elk  or  deer,  which  we  were  told  were 
thereabout,  and  the  two  men  who  lost  started  out  in  the  storm,  and  soon, 
perhaps  half  an  hour,  came  into  the  cabin  saying  there  was  a  large  elk 
standing  beside  a  large  pine  tree  near  the  cabin,  and  the  other  members 
and  myself  grabbed  our  rifles  to  see  who  would  be  the  first  to  fire  the  fatal 
shot  or  as  some  might  call  it,  the  lucky  shot,  and  as  I  was  the  first  to 
step  outside,  I  thought  I  saw  a  monster  elk  standing  some  fifty  yards 
away,  and  as  his  head  was  toward  me,  I  quickly  raised  my  rifle  and  fired 
the  ball,  and  as  I  expected,  struck  him  square  between  the  horns  and  he 
dropped  to  his  knees  with  a  ball  in  his  brain.  I  went  inside  the  cabin,  to 
set  my  rifle  down,  and  the  other  men  soon  brought  in  several  chunks  of 
as  fine  looking  meat  as  one  would  find  in  a  meat  market,  catering  only  to 
a  liberal  buying  clientele  of  customers.  We  cut  the  meat  up  in  smaller 
pieces  and  commenced  cooking  it  before  the  fire;  soon,  however,  we  dis- 
covered we  were  eating  the  meat  of  a  real  tame  oxen,  and  after  some  delay, 
the  two  men  admitted  they  had  found  a  large  sawmill  but -a  few  hundred 
yards  from  our  stolen  cabin  and  that  they  found  this  steer  some  distance 
from  the  other  cattle  and  because  they  were  afraid  to  shoot  him,  they  had 
run  the  risk  of  driving  him  down  near  the  cabin,  knowing  that  I  would 
get  him  the  first  shot,  while  they  might  miss  him  on  account  of  fear  of 
being  caught. 

I  knew  I  was  in  great  danger  of  the  gang  putting  all  the  blame  on  me, 
in  case  the  sawmill  owners  caught  us  in  this  deserted  cabin,  and  in  case 
the  occupants  of  it  had  been  caught  in  the  storm  and  frozen  to  death,  we 
might  be  charged  with  having  driven  them  out  of  their  shelter.  It  was 
then  about  nine  o'clock,  and  after  cooking  some  more  of  the  meat,  I  put 
on  my  overshoes  and  overcoat,  picked  up  my  rifle,  and  said  to  the  crowd 
that  I  was  starting  for  Cheyenne,  and  it  seemed  to  me  that  every  one  of 
the  four  men  I  was  leaving  behind  me  believed  I  would  freeze  to  death, 
and  they  would  put  all  the  blame  on  me.  They  would  thereby  escape 
any  criminal  responsibility 

It  really  looked  as  if  I  had  a  slim  chance  to  reach  Cheyenne  that  day. 
I  was  willing  to  take  the  risk,  and  after  I  had  traveled  a  hundred  yards 
or  so,  I  found  myself  tangled  up  in  the  limbs  of  a  large  pine  tree,  and 
while  I  could  see  but  a  slight  chance  of  going  forward,  I  looked  at  my 
compass,  and  I  believed  I  was  traveling  toward  the  U.  P.  R.  R.  track, 
Finally,  however,  I  got  out  of  the  tangled  limbs  of  this  pine  tree  and  be- 
lieved I  was  nearer  the  edge  of  the  timber,  and  by  pushing  ahead  I 
reached  the  U.  P.  tracks  and  I  knew  to  travel  downhill,  I  was  going  to- 
ward Cheyenne. 


481 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


The  wind  was  still  coming  from  the  west  and  when  I  had  turned 
my  back  to  the  wind,  it  blowed  so  hard  that  I  was  often  blown  off  my 
feet.  Of  course,  when  I  found  shallow  snow,  I  could  travel  very  fast, 
but  the  drifts  were  so  numerous  that  I  was  compelled  to  go  around  the 
large  banks;  some  of  them  were  several  hundred  yards  around  and  twenty 
feet  deep. 

My  greatest  trouble  was  to  make  my  way  back  to  the  railroad  tracks 
each  time  I  was  compelled  to  go  around  one  of  the  high  snowbanks. 
When  I  was  almost  exhausted,  I  could  have  dropped  in  the  snow  and 
gone  to  sleep,  but  I  knew  it  would  be  my  long  sleep  into  the  unknown, 
so  I  would  put  a  piece  of  that  frozen  beef  in  my  mouth  and  while  it  was 
hard  chewing,  it  seemed  to  remove  some  of  the  worry  from  my  mind  and 
I  would  press  forward,  hoping  every  moment  that  I  might  see  the  glim- 
mer of  a  light  in  a  window,  because  I  knew  I  had  traveled  fully  fifty 
miles,  but  that  was  on  account  of  having  to  go  around  so  many  snow 
drifts.  However,  I  thought  I  could  see  a  dim  light,  and  while  it  appeared 
to  be  near,  I  must  have  traveled  fully  one  hour  before  I  arrived  at  the 
front  door  of  the  house  where  the  light  was  shining,  and  as  this  house 
was  only  a  small  tent  house  and  there  were  several  other  larger  lights 
then  shining,  only  a  short  distance  ahead  of  me,  I  pushed  forward  until 
I  found  myself  at  the  door  of  a  large  dance  hall  and  gambling  house,  and 
after  going  inside,  I  discovered  they  were  serving  meals  back  in  the  rear 
of  the  dance  hall  There  was  a  long  bar  in  the  front  and  at  the  end  of 
each  dance,  men  led  their  partners  to  the  bar  and  paid  one  dollar  for  two 
drinks.  The  women  were,  of  course,  of  the  underworld,  but  they  were 
not  of  the  lowest,  because  they  would  slap  a  man  in  the  face,  if  he  got 
fresh,  and  they  all  wore  dresses  which  reached  the  top  of  their  shoes. 

After  standing  several  feet  from  the  big  stove  for  a  few  moments,  I 
meandered  back  to  the  dining  room.  When  I  was  seated,  a  waitress  came 
to  my  table  and  asked  for  my  order,  and,  as  I  was  very  hungry,  I  asked 
her  to  bring  me  a  first-class  meal  and,  considering  the  fact  that  Cheyenne 
was  then  admitted  to  be  the  wildest  and  toughest  town  in  all  the  west, 
I  was  served  with  what  I  considered  a  first-class  meal  for  the  small  sum 
of  three  dollars,  and  not  a  word  said  about  a  tip  for  the  pretty  young 
woman  who  so  attentively  served  my  supper.  While  nowadays  one  is 
expected  to  tip  the  waitress  liberally  when  his  meal  sums  up  to  three 
dollars,  and  as  a  matter  of  further  entertainment,  while  I  was  eating,  there 
were  several  fights  started  and  one  small  shooting  match,  which  was 
caused  by  some  men  getting  fresh  with  one  of  the  dancing  girls. 

After  eating  to  my  heart's  content,  this  beautiful  waitress  inquired 
whether  I  wished  a  bed  for  the  night  and,  as  I  was  very  much  in  need 
of  rest,  I  gladly  welcomed  the  opportunity  of  retiring  where  I  might  at 
least  get  a  little  rest,  and  after  paying  her  three  dollars  more,  she  escorted 
me  to  a  tent,  far  back  in  the  rear  of  the  dance  hall.     I  was  shown  a 


[49; 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


pretty  snow  covered  cot,  which  consisted  of  two  posts  driven  in  the 
ground,  at  either  end,  and  a  narrow  board  nailed  to  the  posts  as  a  head 
and  footboard,  and  two  long  boards  running  from  the  head  to  the  foot. 
These  boards  were  the  springs.  Then  there  was  one  army  blanket 
thrown  over  the  boards  and  a  pillow  made  out  of  sagebrush,  the  pillow- 
slip was  an  old  grain  sack  and  the, carpet  on  the  floor  was  made  of  sage- 
brush broken  up  into  more  than  a  dozen  pieces.  There  were  quite  a 
number  of  these  so-called  beds  in  the  same  room  and  as  the  gambling 
tables  never  closed  there  were  not  many  of  the  beds  occupied  until  about 
daylight  at  which  time  I  got  up  and  started  out. 

HUNTING  AN  INSIDE  JOB  FOR  THE  WINTER 
There  was  only  one  hotel  and  one  dinkey  newspaper  in  Cheyenne  at 
that  time.  I  went  to  the  hotel  and  asked  for  employment,  only  to  be  in- 
formed that  there  was  no  vacancy,  and  few  jobs  in  town — except  in 
dance  halls  or  saloons,  and  then  I  informed  the  gentleman  that  I  did  not 
care  to  work  in  either  of  those  places. 

The  editor  of  the  newspaper  stepped  up  and  said  he  wanted  to  hire 
a  devil  to  work  at  his  printing  office,  and  as  I  did  not  quite  understand 
him,  he  invited  me  to  go  with  him  to  his  place  of  business,  and  when  we 
had  reached  his  print  shop  and  seated  ourselves  near  his  table  he  said 
again  that  he  wanted  to  hire  a  printer's  devil  and  when  I  inquired  as  to 
the  duty  of  a  printer's  devil,  he  said  it  was  his  duty  to  wash  the  ink 
rollers,  make  fires,  and  keep  everything  clean  about  the  place,  and,  of 
course,  I  told  him  I  could  do  that  work  as  good  as  any  man,  and  then  I 
was  asked  why  I  was  carrying  that  Henry  rifle  with  me,  and  when  I  told 
him  I  had  come  in  with  a  freight  outfit  the  day  before,  he  seemed  satis- 
fied and  put  me  to  work.  There  was  nothing  said  about  wages,  just  so 
I  bad  a  place  and  bed  to  sleep  on,  and  something  to  eat  for  the  winter. 
The  weather  was  very  cold. 


[50] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


MY  FINE  HORSE  WAS  ON  MY  MIND 
I  was  all  this  time  wondering  what  had  become  of  him  and  at  the 
same  time,  I  thought  he  might  hiave  returned  to  Cheyenne.  To  cover  up  my 
tracks  for  the  past  few  days,  after  being  shown  a  very  good  place  to 
sleep,  I  went  to  work  cleaning  up  the  printer's  rollers  and  the  shop 
throughout.  I  noticed  it  was  getting  late  in  the  day,  and  I  asked  per- 
mission to  go  after  my  blankets  and  clothing,  and  when  I  had  reached 
the  corral,  where  we  had  camped  before  going  to  the  Black  Hills  on  that 
wild  goose  chase  for  elk  and  deer,  there  I  found  my  horse,  the  two  pack 
mules,  and  all  the  other  horses.  My  horse  seemed  to  be  glad  to  see  me. 
I  did  not  claim  to  know  anything  about  the  other  horses  or  the  mules 
to  the  man  who  owned  the  corral  and  when  L-had  claimed  my  horse  he 
said  he  was  a  stray  and  that  he  came  into  the  corral  the  same  day  that 
four  other  horses  and  two  pack  mules  came  in.  I,  however,  paid  the 
charges  against  my  horse  and,  after  putting  the  saddle  on  him,  I  mounted 
and  rode  away  to  another  corral,  a  half  mile  or  more  distance,  and  moved 
him  about,  from  place  to  place,  until  spring  when  I  got  another  job  with 
a  surveying  outfit. 

Of  course,  I  was  wondering  about  the  fate  of  my  companions,  whom 
I  had  left  in  that  deserted  cabin  that  cold  and  stormy  morning,  but  I 
never  once  inquired  about  them.  Some  two  months  later  I  met  one  of 
them  and  of  course  I  inquired  as  to  how  they  got  out  of  the  hills.  He 
said  one  of  the  sawmill  men  was  a  deputy  United  States  marshal,  and 
that  when  the  dead  ox  was  found,  the  deputy  marshal  arrested  the  whole 
bunch  and  brought  them  to  Cheyenne,  where  they  had  been  in  jail  for 
over  two  months,  and  that  they  were  turned  loose  but  a  few  hours  be- 
fore with  instructions  to  leave  Cheyenne  at  once  and  that  the  rest  of  the 
gang  went  out  on  the  morning  train,  and  he  was  going  as  soon  as  he 
could  raise  a  few  dollars  eating  money,  that  it  had  taken  his  last  dollar 
to  buy  his  ticket,  and  I  then  inquired  what  had  been  said  by  any  or  all 
of  them  about  me,  and  he  said  not  a  word,  that  the  officer  thought  he  had 
captured  the  whole  gang  and  they  thought  it  would  not  help  them  to 
say  anything  about  me,  that  they  paid  one  hundred  and  fifty  dollars  to 
the  deputy,  which  was  said  to  be  the  value  of  the  steer  I  had  killed.  I 
then  inquired  as  to  the  amount  of  money  he  needed  for  meals,  while  on 
the  train,  and  when  he  said  four  or  five  dollars,  I  promptly  handed  him 
twenty  dollars,  which  he  said  he  would  send  back.  I  never  heard  of  him 
again. 


I  5  1 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


I  MEET  CHARLIE  MARTIN  ON  THE  STREET 
A  day  or  so  after  I  went  to  work  as  a  printer's  devil,  and  as  he  did  not 
see  me,  and  the  fact  that  I  was  thinking  all  the  time  that  when  we  met 
there  might  be  trouble,  because  he  was  sure  a  real  gunman  and  had  killed 
many  a  man  just  to  see  him  fall.  There  were  but  few,  if  any,  gunmen, 
who  would  anger  him  when  Charlie  Martin  walked  up  to  a  gambling 
table,  and  told  a  gambler  to  give  him  his  seat.  The  gambler  obeyed  the 
command  at  once,  because  he  knew,  or  at  least  expected,  Martin's  next 
move  would  be  pulling  the  trigger  of  his  trusty  six  shooter. 

Charlie  Martin  was  a  small  slender  man,  one  of  the  last  men  you 
would  believe  to  be  such  a  heartless  desperado,  notwithstanding  the  fact 
that  he  claimed  to  have  killed  more  than  a  dozen  men,  just  to  see  them 
fall,  and  it  was  said  he  had  killed  at  least  six  men  in  Cheyenne  within 
the  past  month. 

The  editor  said  to  me  that  there  was  a  very  bad  gunman  in  town  by 
the  name  of  Charlie  Martin.  I  then  told  him  I  believed  I  knew  the 
man  he  had  described.  The  editor  then  said  to  me  that  I  should  run  over 
to  the  dance  hall,  and  if  Charlie  Martin  was  there,  I  should  come  back 
and  let  him  know  at  once.  A  few  minutes  after  I  had  entered  the  dance 
hall  I  was  standing  near  the  stove,  when  Charlie  Martin  came  in.  He 
walked  up  to  me,  reaching  out  his  hand,  saying  he  was  glad  to  see  me, 
and  while  I  was  keeping  my  eyes  on  him  and  keeping  very  close  to  his 
side,  so  I  could  grab  his  hand  if  he  attempted  to  draw  a  six  shooter,  as  if 
I  was  glad  to  see  him,  notwithstanding  the  fact  it  would  have  been  my 
preference  to  have  been  a  mile  away  talking  through  a  megaphone.  I 
knew  he  was  very  quick  on  drawing  a  six  shooter,  and  that  he  usually 
pulled  the  trigger  without  uttering  a  word.  I  noticed  a  sudden  change 
in  his  face  and  his  eyes  were  snapping  as  if  he  was  wondering  what  would 
happen  next,  when  he  apparently  got  over  his  nervous  spell,  and  said, 
"Do  you  see  that  man  standing  at  the  end  of  the  bar?"  "Yes,"  I  said, 
and  Martin  then  looked  me  straight  in  the  eye  and  said,  "That  man 
will  be  dead  in  less  tran  one  minute."  He  then  drew  his  big  six  shooter 
and  fired  a  ball  into  the  man's  brain  and  then  fired  two  more  balls  into 
his  body,  while  he  lay  dead  on  the  floor.  Martin  then  threw  several  bills 
on  the  bar,  and  said,  "Give  every  person  in  the  house  a  drink  or  a 
cigar."  I  did  not  go  to  the  bar  and  when  Martin  turned  around  and 
noticed  I  was  still  beside  the  big  stove,  where  he  had  left  me,  he  said, 
"Stay  where  you  are,"  and  then  instructed  a  man  to  close  the  front  door 
and  not  to  allow  anyone  to  come  in  or  go  out  until  he  left  the  room.  Of 
course,  I  wanted  to  get  out,  but  I  did  not  know  how  to  make  my  escape, 
and,  I,  as  most  others  then  in  the  room,  supposed  there  was  at  least  one 
more  man  in  the  dance  hall,  whom  Martin  was  intending  to  kill  before 
he  left  the  room.  None  could  name  the  man  and  I  knew  he  was  a  deadly 
enemy  of  mine,  and  I  was  unarmed,  and  absolutely  helpless,  unless  I  was 
by  his  side  where  I  could  grab  his  arm,  should  he  reach  for  his  gun.  The 
dancing  was  still  going  on,  and  the  gambling  games  never  stopped  for  a 
moment. 

[52] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


Charlie  Martin  and  Thompson  hanging. 


[53] 


THi:     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


I  noticed  the  man  at  the  door  put  his  hand  on  the  knob,  and  I  made 
a  dash  toward  him  and  when  I  was  near  the  door,  he  opened  it  and  out 
I  went.  My  legs  were  taxed  to  their  full  capacity  moving  m,  scared 
body  toward  the  printing  office.  I  met  the  editor  near  the  door.  He 
said  he  was  wondering  if  I  had  got  into  trouble  and  when  we  had  gone 
into  his  office,  I  told  him  what  I  had  seen.  He  then  called  one  of  his 
men  to  his  side,  handed  him  a  paper,  upon  which  was  written  several 
names.  He  told  this  man  to  request  those  gentlemen  to  meet  him 
at  the  hotel  at  once.  The  editor  then  gaVe  me  a  twenty-dollar  bill,  saying 
it  was  extra  pay  for  the  information  I  had  brought  him.  I  was  then  in- 
structed to  remain  in  the  office  until  his  return  at  about  8:15.  He 
instructed  me  to  go  to  the  dance  hall,  and  if  Charlie  Martin  was  there, 
to  return  at  once.  I  found  Martin  dancing  on  the  floor  in  his  shirt 
sleeves,  and  two  large  six  shooters  hanging  in  his  belt.  I  made  my  report 
to  the  editor.  The  editor  then  handed  me  ten  dollars,  and  told  me  to 
return  to  the  dance  hall  and  if  Martin  left  the  place,  to  follow  him,  and 
when  he  stopped,  I  should  return  and  let  him  know  where  Martin  stopped. 

I  had  only  been  in  the  dance  hall  a  few  moments,  when  a  "very 
drunken  man  came  in  and  told  Martin  that  there  was  a  lady  at  the  door 
who  wished  to  speak  to  him.  Martin  then  drew  his  six  shooter,  and 
started  for  the  door,  saying  he  would  kill  every  damn  son  of  a  vigilante 
in  front  of  that  door.  When  he  was  near  the  door  he  commanded  a  man 
to  open  it  wide.  Martin  then  raised  his  hands,  pointing  both  six  shooters 
toward  the  open  space  in  the  door  and  made  one  jump,  as  if  he  was  to  land 
outside  the  door  and  at  this  moment  he  was  hit  over  the  head  with  an 
iron  bar,  his  pistols  falling  from  his  hands,  a  rope  was  thrown  over  his 
head,  and  drawn  tight  about  his  neck.  He  was  then  dragged  to  a  vacant 
lot  and  the  other  end  of  the  rope  tide  around  three  two-by-fours,  (which 
were,  I  believe,  about  sixteen  feet  long) .  They  were  then  raised  and  the 
lower  ends  spread  out,  leaving  Martin  there  to  kick  out  his  own  life. 

THE  VIGILANTES  ALSO  HANG  AN  INNOCENT  MAN 
The  same  night  they  hanged  Charlie  Martin,  while  Martin's  body 
was  not  cut  down  for  several  days,  the  body  of  a  man  by  the  name  of 
Thompson,  who  was  hanged  beside  that  of  Martin,  and  from  informa- 
tion I  obtained  later,  Thompson  was  an  innocent  man  and  as  evidence 
of  that  fact,  his  body  was  cut  down  early  the  following  morning  and 
given  a  first-class  burial. 

Several  days  after  the  hanging  of  Martin  and  Thompson,  I  looked 
out  of  the  window  and  there  before  my  eyes  were  hanging  the  bodies  of 
seven  men.  I  tried  to  find  out  whether  the  editor  was  really  a  member 
of  the  vigilantes.  I  called  him  to  the  window  and  when  I  had  shown 
him  the  bodies,  he  said,  "One  got  away  the  night  before  on  a  plea  that  he 
would  leave  town  at  once,"  and  when  we  had  returned  to  the  editor's 
desk,    I   inquired   of  him  concerning   the  hanging  of  Thompson,    whom 


[54] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


every  person  in  Cheyenne  claimed  was  innocent  of  any  wrong  doing.  The 
editor,  after  a  moment's  study,  said  that  there  was  a  bad  gunman  in  town 
by  the  name  of  Thompson,  that  a  mistake  had  been  made,  which  was  much 
regretted.  He  said  that  the  man  who  was  hung  answered  the  description 
of  the  man  wanted,  and  the  vigilantes  thought  they  had  the  right  man, 
and  as  they  did  things  with  such  great  speed,  they  threw  the  rope  around 
the  man's  neck  and  there  was  no  time  for  investigation.  I  then  inquired 
concerning  the  man  who  hanged  himself,  and  he  said  that  he  should  have 
been  strung  up  the  night  before  but  for  the  fact  that  several  vigilantes 
pleaded  so  hard  to  give  him  another  chance,  and  he  went  on  to  say  that 
the  vigilantes  found  from  experience  to  turn  a  gunman  loose  was  a  mis- 
take, and  it  had  proven  so  in  the  case  of  the  man  who  climbed  the  tele- 
graph pole  and  hung  himself.  Then  he  went  on  to  say  that  when  a  man 
did  things  as  cool  and  deliberate  as  did  that  man,  he  was  a  most  dangerous 
person  to  live  in  any  community;  for  example,  he  said,  the  man  climbed 
a  telegraph  pole  with  a  rope  around  his  neck  and  when  his  feet  were  but 
a  short  distance  above  the  ground  he  requested  a  member  of  the  vigilantes 
to  remove  his  boots,  because  he  did  not  care  to  commit  suicide  with  his 
boots  on,  then,  too,  when  such  a  man  as  he  starts  out  on  the  street,  firing 
pistol  shots  right  and  left,  not  caring  who  the  balls  may  strike,  and  the 
fact  that  one  innocent  man  was  fatally  wounded,  makes  it  our  duty  to 
put  an  end  to  his  desperations. 

The  writer  was  present  and  saw  this  man  climb  the  telegraph  pole, 
tie  the  rope  around  the  top  of  the  pole  and  drop  as  if  it  were  an  accident, 
and,  when  the  weight  of  the  body  tightened  the  rope  about  his  neck, 
his  tongue  shot  out  some  three  inches,  and  his  eyeballs  bulged  out  so  they 
appeared  to  be  as  large  as  hens'  eggs,  and  after  throwing  out  his  chest 
raising  first  one  foot  and  then  the  other,  and  pitching  out  in  the  air  for 
a  few  moments,  his  body  hung  down  beside  the  pole  as  would  a  rag  and 
once  more  a  dead  shot  gunman  had  ceased  to  be  a  menace  to  the  com- 
munity in  which  he  might  have  been  a  shining  light,  had  he  turned  his 
thought  and  actions  to  the  good  of  his  fellowmen,  in  place  of  destruction 
of  any  and  everything  before  him,  while  an  influence  for  good  among 
his  fellow-beings  might  have  been  his. 

The  outside  world  knew  little  about  the  things  which  happened  in 
Cheyenne,  the  winter  I  was  there,  because  the  editor  never  printed  any- 
thing about  law  violators.  He  often  told  me  that  to  print  such  news 
would  do  the  town  great  harm. 

I  AM  RE-EMPLOYED  BY  THE  SURVEYING  OUTFIT 

On  account  of  the  fact  that  the  severe  weather  was  disappearing  day 
by  day,  and  the  surveying  outfit  had  offered  me  an  outside  job,  I  left 
Cheyenne  to  join  them  for  the  summer.  We  laid  out  several  townsites 
beyond  Cheyenne  that  summer  and  when  winter  started  again,  I  found 
an  inside  job  and  when  spring  came,  I  got  my  job  back  with  the  survey- 
ing outfit,  helping  to  lay  out  mushroom  towns  along  the  U.  P.  R.  R. 


[55] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


AGAIN  I  FIND  MYSELF  OUT  OF  A  JOB 
We  had  finished  laying  out  the  then  wild-and-woolly,  town,  which 
I  believe  they  called  Wasach,  which  was  not  far  east  of  the  next  town 
west,  called  Echo  Canyon,  and  I  might  explain  here  that  most  of  these  so- 
called  towns  were  started  before  they  were  surveyed;  for  example,  they 
were  supported  by  the  men  employed  building  the  U.  P.  R.  R.,  and  the 
surveyors  simply  came  along,  set  stake,  established  street  corners  as 
directed.  There  were  no  graded  streets  because  a  town  might  blow  up  over 
night  in  case  the  railroad  construction  contractors  decided  to  move  their 
main  camp. 

The  town  of  Wasach  was  located  at  or  near  the  eastern  end  of  the 
many  tunnels  they  were  cutting  through  Echo  Canyon,  and  the  town 
called  Echo  Canyon  was  located  at  the  western  end.  On  account  of  the 
winter  setting  in  and  heavy  snow  storms,  the  contractors  abandoned  the 
eastern  end  of  the  tunnels  and  moved  their  main  camp  to  Echo  Canyon, 
due  to  the  fact  that  a  large  hotel  was  nearing  completion,  which  was 
built  by  a  man  named  Jenks,  and  called  The  Jenks  Hotel,  or  the  Jenks 
House.  It  was  generally  understood  to  be  the  largest  and  best  hotel  in 
the  city  of  Echo  Canyon.  I  believe  it  was  the  only  hotel  nearer  than 
Salt  Lake  City,  which  was  said  to  be  150  miles  inland  from  the 
U.  P.  R.  R.  At  that  point,  however,  I  was  employed  as  night  watchman 
at  the  Jenks  House,  all  winter  and  I  never  heard  the  landlord's  claim 
disputed. 

Echo  Canyon,  as  I  understood,  was  located  in  the  midst  of  a  large 
Mormon  settlement.  The  very  severe  cold  weather  and  deep  snow  stopped 
the  stages  and  in  place  of  several  stages  arriving  every  twenty-four  hours, 
there  was  only  one  stage  come  in  and  one  went  out,  now  and  then,  as  they 
were  able  to  get  through  the  heavy  snow,  so  we  did  not  know  whether 
the  rest  of  the  world  was  blowed  up  or  not. 

The  railroad  contractors  had  brought  large  supplies  of  provisions, 
expecting  to  continue  work  in  the  tunnels  all  winter  and  that  they  might 
not  run  short  before  May  first,  the  following  spring.  The  extreme  cold 
weather  compelled  all  construction  work  to  shut  down,  which  threw 
several  thousand  men  out  of  employment  the  entire  winter.  All  of  these 
men  seemed  to  have  plenty  of  greenbacks,  which  was  the  only  money 
in  circulation.  Its  gold  value,  I  understand,  was  thirty-nine  cents  on  the 
dollar;  however,  a  dollar  was  a  dollar,  and  as  gambling  and  drinking  was 
about  the  only  way  there  was  offered  for  getting  rid  of  one's,  surplus 
change,  and  the  fact  these  several  thousand  men  were  unable  to  get  out 
of  the  place,  they  were  in  evidence  on  every  turn.  Mormons,  who  knew 
the  country,  were  coming  into  town  most  every  day,  bringing  with  them 
vegetables,  wrapped  up  in  fine  furs,  buffalo  robes  and  deel  skins.  These 
skins  and  furs  they  offered  for  sale  at  low  prices.     The  Mormon  women 


[56] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


also  came  to  Echo  Canyon,  when  the  town  first  started  and  many  of 
them  were  employed  at  the  Jenks  House,  as  dining  room  waitresses,  kit- 
chen helpers,  and  in  the  laundry,  also  as  general  house  cleaners.  I  was 
only  a  kid  in  those  days,  but  I  soon  learned  these  Mormon  girls  were 
scared  at  the  sight  of  a  gentile.  I,  like  all  the  other  gentiles,  liked  the  looks 
of  these  beautiful  Mormon  girls,  so  I  watched  them  when  they  were  dash- 
ing around  from  place  to  place,  doing  their  work  and  I  also  noticed  that 
now  and  then  a  gambler  who  had  made  a  winning  and  had  a  big  roll  of 
greenbacks,  if  he  got  fresh  with  one  of  the  Mormon  girls,  that  they  would 
slap  him  in  the  face,  or  break  a  large  dish  over  his  head.  I  made  up  my 
mind  to  make  friends  with  all  of  them,  if  I  could,  so  I  waited  for  my 
opportunity  and  told  one  of  them  who  had  become  a  little  tamer  than 
any  of  the  others  that  I  would  like  to  join  the  Mormon  Church  and 
that  I  wished  she  would  tell  me  more  about  how  I  might  become  a 
member,  but  the  most  I  could  get  her  to  say  was  that  she  might  spare 
me  a  Mormon  Bible  to  read.  This  beautiful  girl  was  one  of  seven  sisters, 
all  of  whom  were  employed  at  the  Jenks  House,  and  when  I  met  her 
next  she  was  in  the  laundry.  I  wondered  how  I  could  interest  her  so  she 
would  talk.  I  brought  in  several  loads  of  wood  and  offered  to  help  her 
otherwise.  Finally  she  said  I  would  not  make  a  good  Mormon,  because 
the  Mormon  men  were  not  supposed  to  do  such  chores  as  I  was  willing 
to  do,  and  when  I  inquired  why,  she  told  me  that  her  husband  had  twelve 
wives,  and  she  and  her  six  sisters  were  seven  of  his  wives,  and  that  the 
other  five  wives  were  then  living  at  Coalville,  which  was  only  about 
four  miles  from  Echo  Canyon.  The  youngest  of  the  seven  sisters  was, 
as  I  understood,  only  seventeen  years  old,  and  the  oldest,  I  believe,  was 
about  thirty  years  of  age.  She  also  said  that  they  all  had  only  one  father, 
but  different  mothers.  The  Mormon  woman,  she  said,  did  all  the  work, 
like  housekeeping,  farming,  preparing  the  winter  wood,  tanning  the 
hides,  making  them  into  fur  garments,  and  also  shearing  the  sheep  and 
spinning  the  wool  and  weaving  it  into  cloth,  then  making  it  into  gar- 
ments. 

What  employment  have  the  Mormon  men-?      "They  have  plenty,' 
she  said.     Most  of  them  have  more  than  three  wives,  and  when  they  have 
three  wives,  or  more,  they  are  made  elders  of  the  church,  and  when  they 
have,  I  believe  she  said,  twelve  wives,  they  become  bishops  of  the  church. 

/  said  if  I  thought  I  could  be  a  bishop.  I  sure  would  join  the  Mormon 
Church,  but  she  said  if  I  wanted  to  join  the  Mormon  Church  just  to  get 
twelve  wives,  I  had  better  forget  it.  She  did  not  tell  me  all  of  these 
things  at  one  time,  but  she  did  say  one  day  I  had  beautiful  big  blue  eyes, 
and  I  thought  I  had  her  tamed  at  that  moment,  but  when  I  tried  to  make 
her  say  something  more  about  my  beauty,  she  gave  me  a  slap  in  the  jaw, 


[57] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A      ROVER 


which  was  not  very  hard,  and  to  tell  me  she  was  not  mad.  She  did  say 
she  was  not  angry.  I  met  several  of  these  beautiful  Mormon  girls  in 
the  laundry,  and  one  of  them  said,  "I  believe  you  are  trying  to  make 
love  to  all  of  us  girls."  So  I  said,  "No."  I  was  only  laying  a  founda- 
tion to  become  a  member  of  the  Mormon  Church,  and  another  spoke  up 
and  said,  "If  you  could  see  our  husband,  you  might  change  your  mind." 
Why?  Her  reply  was  that  he  could  not  stand  up  straight  as  I.  I  said 
why,  again,  and  I  sure  drew  a  hearty  laugh  out  of  the  bunch. 

That  evening,  after  I  went  on  watch,  several  gamblers  who  had  plenty 

of  money  came  into  the  hotel  office.  They  said  I  was  getting  quite 
popular  with  the  Mormon  girls,  so  I  told  them  I  was  thinking  of  join- 
ing the  Mormon  Church,  and  when  I  had  told  them  that  seven  of  the 
most  beautiful  girls  employed  in  the  hotel  were  daughters  of  one  man 
and  that  they  had  told  me  they  were  all  married  to  one  man,  and  that  he 
had  five  other  wives  living  at  a  small  village  called  Coalville,  which  was 
only  about  four  miles  from  Echo  Canyon,  the  gamblers  said  I  should  make 
a  date  and  we  would  take  a  bunch  of  them  to  Coalville,  and  look  the 
ground  over,  and  more  of  us  might  wish  to  join  the  Mormon  Church. 

//  was  absolutely  useless  to  otter  the  girls  money.  They  knew  noth- 
ing about  its  value,  which  fact  the  gamblers  well  knew,  because  they  had 
parted  with  many  a  five-dollar  greenback,  as  a  tip,  when  leaving  the 
table,  without  receiving  as  much  as  "Thank  you.','  One  of  the  gamblers 
said  there  was  a  sled  in  the  town  which  they  could  hire,  and  by  having 
a  few"  alterations  made,  like  side  seats  and  a  raised  seat  for  the  driver. 
"Yes,"  another  gambler  spoke  up,  and  said  he  knew  the  man  to  get  as  a 
driver,  and  that  this  driver  was  a  man  of  long  experience,  driving  six 
big  mules,  hauling  mountain  stages  and  that  he  also  owned  six  of  the 
best  mules  in  that  part  of  the  country. 

/  got  busy,  trying  to  induce  those  beautiful  girls  to  take  a  chance, 
riding  with  a  bunch  of  gentiles,  and  because  of  the  fact  that  Mr.  Jenks,  the 
owner  of  the  hotel,  had  told  us  that  he  was  building  a  new  hotel  at 
Green  River,  which  was  to  be  the  next  big  railroad  camp,  and  the  fact  that 
the  big  contractors  were  getting  ready  to  resume  work,  which  would  al- 
most depopulate  Echo  Canyon,  most  of  the  Mormon  girls  had  been  as- 
sured of  employment  if  they  went  with  the  Jenks  to  Green  River,  and  it 
was  quite  a  distance  from  Coalville  to  Green  River.  I  finally  induced 
I  believe,  about  fifteen  or  sixteen  of  the  girls  to  join  us  in  a  sled  ride  to 
Coalville,  and  back  to  Echo  Canyon,  but  with  the  understanding  that 
they  did  not  wish  to  be  introduced  or  even  become  acquainted  with  the 
gentiles  who  might  go  along,  and  as  they  did  not  know  my  name,  ex- 
cept that  my  first  name  was  Dan,  we  were  to  start  about  seven  a.  m.,  and 
while  it  was  not  very  cold  that  morning,  we  started  the  sled  being  well 
provided  with  buffalo  robes  and  bear  skins.  The  road  was  through  the 
mountains,  and  as  it  had  not  been  traveled  since  the  last  heavy  snow,  the 
driver  was  instructed  to  try  and  reach  Coalville  by  eight  a.m.,  so  that  the 


158] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


girls  might  have  a  long  visit.     The  driver  said  the  only  thing  we  would 
encounter  on  the  road  to  Coalville  would  be  snow  and  jack  rabbits,  and 
that  the  jack  rabbits  would  not  be  in  evidence  unless  he  lost  the  road. 
WE  SURE*  SAW  MANY  JACK  RABBITS 

We  finally  arrived  at  Coalville.  Our  first  stop  was  in  front  of  a  large 
log  house,  which  looked  as  if  it  might  cover  one-fourth  of  an  acre,  and 
there  were  in  evidence  many  other  smaller  log  houses  and  narrow  trails 
cut  through  the  snow,  running  from  one  to  the  other  of  the  many  cabins. 

The  first  one  to  meet  us  was  a  man  whom,  I  believe,  must  have  been 
over  six  feet  tall,  when  he  was  married,  but  at  this  time  I  do  not  believe 
he  could  have  raised  his  head  five  feet  above  the  ground,  if  there  had 
been  a  rope  around  his  neck  and  six  mules  pulling"  on  the  other  end.  This 
much-married,  double  and  twisted,  Reverend  Bishop  of  the  Mormon 
Church,  .we  were  informed,  was  the  husband  of  those  seven  beautiful 
sisters,  which  we  had  been  trying  all  winter  to  get  acquainted  with.  They 
were  soon  greeting  their  husband,  whom,  we  were  informed,  they  had 
not  seen  for  some  time.  There  was  no  kissing.  We  were  soon  invited 
into  the  house  and  as  a  matter  of  politeness  one  of  the  gentiles  took  this 
Reverend  Mormon  Bishop  by  the  arm,  as  if  to  assist  him  back  into  the 
house,  but  he  was  promptly  informed  that  his  aid  was  not  necessary.  One 
of  the  gentiles  inquired  of  the  stoop-shouldered  and  doubled-up  bishop, 
what  misfortune  he  had  met  with  and  without  hardly  batting  an  eye,  the 
bishop  referred  the  gentile  to  his  wives  for  any  further  information  de- 
sired. One  of  the  gentiles  inquired  of  the  eldest  wife  as  to  when  and 
where  she  and  her  husband  were  married.  She  said  she  was  his  first  wife, 
that  they  were  married  in  Denmark,  some  thirty-five  years  ago,  and  that 
the  bishop  had  married  eleven  other  Mormon  girls  after  they  settled  in 
Utah.  Not  one  of  these  many  wives  ever  said  a  word  about  their  hus- 
band, they  called  him  Bishop.  The  gentiles  were  all  trying  to  find  out 
what  caused  this  Reverend  Bishop  to  become  so  doubled  up,  and  but  one 
of  the  wives  ever  gave  a  reply.  All  she  said  was  that  he  had  twelve  wives. 
I  got  one  of  the  bishop's  wives  off  to  one  side  and  told  her  I  had  about 
made  up  my  mind  to  join  the  Mormon  Church  before  leaving  Echo  Can- 
yon, but  since  meeting  the  bishop,  I  had  made  up  my  mind  I  could  not 
stand  the  hardship  of  a  Mormon  husband,  and  she  answered  me  in  a  low 
voice,  that  the  wives  did  all  the  laboring  work,  which  gentile  husbands 
had  to  do.  She  then  returned  a  very  delicate  smile,  saying  no  Mormon 
husband  was  expected  to  do  manual  labor  in  the  field.  After  enjoying 
ourselves  for  an  hour  or  so,  visiting  with  the  family,  we  were  told  the 
bishop  was  the  father  of  some  thirty  children,  that  most  of  them  were 
the  sons  and  daughters  born  to  his  first  five  or  six  wives. 

Our  mule  skinner  got  tired  trying  to  control  his  six  big  mules,  and 
yelled  out,  "All  aboard,"  and  it  seemed  as  though  our  Mormon  passen- 
gers, or  guests,  were  about  the  first  to  climb  into  the  scats,  which  consisted 
of'one  Ion,  seat  running  full  length  of  the  sled  on  either  side.  The  girls 
occupied  01     side  of  the  sled  on  our  way  to  Coalville  and  the  gentiles  the 

f591 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


other.  After  we  had  left  our  first  objective,  the  driver  meandered  around, 
stopping  at  several  other  large  houses,  and  at  each  one  of  them  we  met  an 
elder,  or  bishop,  as  they  called  them.  They  were  all  doubled  up  and 
twisted,  stoop  shouldered,  having,  also,  very  dark  shadows  under  their 
eyes,  as  if  they  had  lost  much  sleep  and  yet  their  cheeks  and  general 
makeup  looked  as  if  they  were  much  happier  than  the  average  man  and 
wife  are  today.  They  did  not  owe  a  penny  to  any  man,  nor  did  any 
man  owe  them  a  penny.  They  had  a  system  of  exchange,  that  if  one 
wanted  something  another  owned,  they  conjured  up  and  exchanged,  each 
one  making  the  deal  come  out  even.  They  kept  no  books,  they  all  gave 
Brigham  Young  and  the  church  ten  per  cent  of  .all  they  earned  or  in  any 
way  came  into  their  possessions.  I  inquired  of  one  Reverend  Elder  if  he 
would  give  Brigham  Young  his  tenth  wife,  if  he  should  call  for  her,  and 
he  said  he  would,  but  he  said  such  a  call  was  not  likely,  because  Brigham 
Young  had  over  sixty  wives  of  his  own  and  could  marry  as  many  more 
as  he  wished. 

WE  ARE  NOW  ON  OUR  WAY  BACK  TO  THE  HOTEL 
Our  driver  swung  his  long  whip  over  his  big  mules  and  they  were 
soon  on  a  dead  run  and  if  the  wind  had  not  raised  and  blown  the  snow 
into  the  road,  our  sled  and  mules  would  have  arrived  at  the  hotel  in 'a 
half  hour,  but  when  we  were  not  more  than  half  a  mile  on  our  journey, 
the  sled  bumped  up  against  a  stump  or  rock,  and  turned  over,  rolling  the 
bunch  of  us  down  a  steep  hill,  and  of  course,  we  gentiles  were  much  inter- 
ested in  picking  up  the  girls,  sometimes  using  both  arms,  while  the  driver 
was  busy  trying  to  get  the  mules  and  sled  right  side  up.  After  a  half 
hour  we  were  all  set  for  a  forward  movement,  as  our  Morman  girls 
had  become  much  tamer,  so  much  so,  that  we  gentiles  were  protecting 
the  girls  by  mingling  with  those  eight  girls  on  one  side  of  the  sled,  and  I 
believe,  seven  on  the  other  side.  We  felt  that  if  the  driver  could  turn 
us  over  once  more,  at  least  some  of  our  lady  friends  might  believe  in 
gentile  religion.  We,  however,  returned  all  the  girls  safely  and,  while 
none  of  them  would  admit  they  believed  any  more  in  the  gentiles  than 
they  had  previously,  when  we  all  started  to  Coalville,  we  soon  noticed 
there  was  a  great  change  in  most  of  them.  We  were  all  much  interested 
in  converting  the  girls,  and  when  we  least  expected  they  commenced  to 
denounce  the  Mormons,  and  became  friendly  with  the  gentiles.  They 
said  if  they  married  a  gentile  they  were  no  more  Mormons,  and  that  a 
divorce  was  not  necessary  and,  after  they  had  made  these  statements  to  us, 
the  wedding  bells  began  to  ring  in  Echo  Canyon,  and  it  was  but  a  short 
time  until  most  of  these  beautiful  girls  left  Echo  Canyon,  arm  in  arm 
with  a  gentile  husband.  So  you  see,  the  bronco  woman  can  be  tamed,  if 
one  goes  at  it  right. 


[60] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


There  is  much  more  that  I  could  write  about  the  things  I  saw  and 
learned,  while  I  was  in  the  company  of  the  Mormons.  However,  I  be- 
lieve they  were  a  happy  and  loving  people,  until  the  gentiles  came  into 
their  midst  and  later  grasping  the  first  opportunity  to  turn  them  against 
the  saintly  Brigham  Young,  whom  the  Mormons  believed  to  be  a  real 
saint.  There  were  few,  if  any,  Mormons  who  did  not  believe  that  every 
utterance  of  Brigham  Young  was  received  by  him  direct  from  God,  and  I 
believe  there  are  a  good  number  of  them  who  still  believe  as  strongly  in 
Brigham  Young,  as  they  did  sixty  years  ago,  while  others  are  on  the 
fence,  and  a  number  have  fallen  off  on  the  gentile  side. 

ARRIVING  AT  GREEN  RIVER 

It  was  coming  spring  and,  while  I  was  idle  for  a  few  days,  I  had 
great  sport  fishing  in  Green  River.  Real  speckled  mountain  trout  were 
so  thick  in  the  water  they  often  jumped  several  inches  above  the  water 
to  catch  the  hook.  It  only  required  half  an  hour  to  catch  a  string  of  the 
finest  tasting  fish,  weighing  over  forty  pounds,  that  ever  swam  in  water. 

I  soon  moved  to  Promontory,  which  was  but  a  small  railroad  camp. 
Both  roads  were  working  day  and  night  to  finish  small  gaps,  which  were 
not  yet  completed,  as  per  contract,  notwithstanding  a  makeshift  track 
had  been  laid  and  construction  trains  were  hauling  supplies.  I  found 
plenty  of  employment,  at  good  wages,  and  remained  around  Promontory 
until  the  two  roads  were  finally  connected.  During  my  stay  at  Promon- 
tory, I  went  many  miles  into  the  interior  of  the  country,  where  I  was 
sent  to  buy  supplies  for  the  railroad  contractors,  and  if  I  were  to  relate 
the  many  things  which  came  before  my  eyes,  while  I  was  skirmishing 
around  among  the  Mormon  settlers,  who  were  the  only  white  people  liv- 
ing in  that  part  of  the  world,  I  believe  you  would  doubt  my  word. 

/  was  present  when  the  gold  and  silver  spikes  were  driven.  There, 
were  many  trainloads,  of  both  men  and  women,  who  came  from  the  east 
and  west  to  see  the  two  tracks  joined  together,  and  there  were  many  bands 
of  music  and  also  many  carloads  of  provisions,  and  thousands  of  cases 
of  champagne;  also  good  old  bourbon  and  rye,  for  those  who  cared  for 
it,  and  it  was  as  free  as  water.  Many  sidetracks  were  put  in  to  accom- 
modate the  hundreds  of  freight  and  dining  cars.  These  dining  cars  were 
well  supplied  with  the  finest  of  good  things  to  eat  that  money  could  buy. 
All  we  were  required  to  do  was  to  call  for  what  we  wanted  and  it  was 
handed  out  as  willingly  as  if  we  had  paid  a  big  price  for  it. 


[61] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


The  5,000,  or  more,  working  men  who  were  in  evidence,  could  be 
seen  everywhere,  some  with  fried  chicken,  turkey,  cakes,  and  a  bottle  of 
champagne.  I  do  not  believe  I  have  seen  a  happier  crowd  in  all  my  life 
than  I  saw  at  Promontory  the  day  the  two  great  tracks  were  spiked  to- 
gether. Most  all  of  the  men.  working  on  the  road  up  to  that  time,  were 
white  men,  but  the  C.  P.  road  had  decided  to  discharge  the  white  men 
employed  on  the  section,  and  replace  them  with  Chinamen.  Not  a  mom- 
ent's warning  had  the  white  men  been  given  that  they  were  to  be  dis- 
charged. Everything  went  on  fine  until  late  in  the  day,  when  word 
started  the  rounds  that  all  white  men  working  on  C.  P.  sections,  and  as 
common  laborers,  were  to  be  replaced  with  Chinamen.  Most  of  the  big 
trains  from  the  east  were  bound  for  Sacramento,  California,  and  as  they 
were  fast  trains,  they  commenced  to  go  forward  a  moment  after  the  gold 
and  silver  spikes  had  been  removed  and  iron  spikes  set  in  their  stead.  As 
soon  as  the  last  passenger  train  was  out  of  sight,  the  big  freight  trains 
commenced  moving  in  on  the  sidetracks.  The  officers  of  the  road  were 
searching  about  for  sober  men  to  run  trains  through  to  Sacramento,  and 
as  I  was  the  first  one  employed,  they  gave  me  the  first  train  to  pull  out 
and  a  pass  for  five  hundred  men,  with  instructions  to  stop  the  train  every 
fifth  section,  and  pick  up  all  the  men  there.  I  was  given  this  job  because 
I  had  become  acquainted  with  many  officers  of  the  C.  P.  road,  and  they 
knew  I  did  not  drink. 


162 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


WE  SOON  MET  A  SURPRISE 
I  believe  it  was  our  second  stop,  when  we  noticed  a  long  train  of  flat 
cars,  standing  on  a  sidetrack,  loaded  with  several  hundred  Chinamen,  and 
as  the  white  men  were  climbing  aboard  our  train  they  noticed  some  fifty 
Chinamen  leaving  the  other  train,  and  after  we  had  pulled  out  the  men  on 
our  train  got  their  heads  together  and  decided  that  if  they  met  another 
trainload  of  Chinamen,  they  would  fire  every  empty  bottle  or  anything 
they  could  get  their  hands  on,  into  the  Chinamen,  whom  they  had  made 
up  their  minds,  were  being  employed  to  take  their  place  and  when  we 
stopped  to  take  on  more  white  men,  those  already  on  the  train  would 
jump  to  the  ground  and  grab  as  many  rocks  as  they  could  carry.  And 
when  we  met  the  next  trainload  of  Chinamen,  the  white  men  fired  rocks 
into  the  Chinamen,  which  knocked  many  of  them  off  the  train,  while 
others  tumbled  over  as  if  they  were  dead.  I  suppose  quite  a  few  China- 
men were  killed,  because  we  traveled  night  and  day,  and  when  we  passed 
a  load  of  Chinamen  at  night,  the  white  men  fired  hundreds  of  pistol 
shots  into  them,  and  often  the  Chinamen  were  seen  to  fall  as  if  they  had 
stopped  a  ball.  The  white  men  continued  their  fight  until  we  were  un- 
loaded at  Sacramento.  Young  Jenks  had  gone  ahead  of  us  on  a  passenger 
train,  and  when  our  train  stopped  he  was  there  to  hand  me  hotel  accom- 
modations for  five  hundred  men.  The  hotel  men  were  also  in  evidence  at 
every  turn,  and  the  first  one  to  speak  to  me  was  William  Land,  proprietor 
of  the  Western  Hotel,  and  when  I  inquired  as  to  how  many  men  he 
could  accommodate,  he  said  several  hundred.  Can  you  handle  five  hun- 
dred? "Yes,"  he  said,  so  I  sent  the  word  down  the  line  for  every  man  to 
follow  me  to  the  Western  Hotel,  and  to  my  great  surprise  we  were  soon 
given  what  one  would  consider  first-class  accommodations. 

Our  meals  at  the  Western  Hotel  were  our  big  surprise.  The  dining 
room  was  quite  large,  and  would  seat  over  five  hundred  at  one  time.  The 
tables  were  loaded  with  the  finest  of  everything  money  could  buy,  and  a 
hundred  beautiful  dining  room  girls,  who  were  dressed  in  pure  white, 
served  us.  My  job  was  ended  when  those  five  hundred  had  registered  at 
the  hotel. 

A  great  many  of  the  C.  P.  sectionmen,  who  were  discharged,  were 
Irishmen.  They  were  generally  very  powerful  men  and  when  a  China- 
men came  along  the  street,  bingo,  they  knocked  him  out  with  a  right 
hander  which  put  him  to  sleep  sometimes  for  hours  and  as  most  of  the 
Sacramento  police  were  Irish,  when  they  found  a  Chinaman  down  and 
out,  on  the  street,  they  simply  went  on  as  if  it  was  permitted  by  law. 


[63J 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


I  SOON  WENT  ON  TO  SAN  FRANCISCO 
Which  was  then  a  wide-open  gambling  city,  but  I  was  not  quite  sat- 
isfied there  so  I  took  a  steamer  for  San  Diego,  California,  only  to  soon 
become  dissatisfied.  The  then,  little  burg,  as  we  would  call  such  a  place 
nowadays,  had  no  inducements  to  offer  a  stranger,  as  I  looked  at  it,  but 
fish,  sand,  or  cheap  town  lots.  Lots  were  offered  at  the  low  price  of 
$5.00  to  $25.00,  one  could  take  his  pick  for  $25.00.  Many  of  them 
have  sold  since  for  over  $1,000,000.  From  San  Diego,  I  went  to  Los 
Angeles,  where  their  choicest  city  lots  sold  as  high  as  $25.00.  This  was 
in  the  fall  of  1869.  I,  however,  settled  at  Anaheim,  which  was  about 
thirty  miles  south  of  Los  Angeles,  and,  at  that  time  nearly  as  large  as 
Los  Angeles.  There  were  no  town  lots  for  sale  at  Anaheim,  because  they 
could  not  figure  close  enough,  in  those  days,  to  find  out  the  value  of  any- 
thing so  small  as  a  town  lot.  The  best  land  was  being  offered  at  a  bit  to 
two  bits  an  acre.  You  may  wonder  how  much  they  called  a  bit  and  to 
help  out  I  will  say  that  four  bits  was  fifty  cents  and  two  bits  was  twenty- 
five.     A  silver  ten-cent  piece  would  buy  as  much  as  fifteen  cents.     For 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


example:  there  was  no  money  in  circulation  smaller  than  a  bit,  so  if  you 
called  for  a  bit's  worth  of  anything  and  gave  the  merchant  a  ten-cent  piece, 
he  accepted  it  as  payment.  While,  if  you  handed  him  twenty-five  cents, 
he  would  hand  you  ten  cents  change  and,  if  you  gave  him  fifty  cents  in 
silver,  he  might  hand  you  one  twenty-five-cent  piece  and  one  dime  as 
your  change,  and  he  might  hand  you  only  three  dimes  and  if  you  wanted 
small  change  for  fifty  cents,  you  would  receive  four  dimes  for  your  fifty 
cent  piece.  This  system  was  in  vogue  for  several  years  after  I  went  to 
California.  I  believe  five-cent  pieces  were  considered  worthless  until  1875, 
when  they  began  to  have  a  general  circulation. 

Early  in  the  spring  of  1875  I  went  back  to  San  Francisco,  and  after 
meandering  around  for  a  while  I  went  to  Eureka,  Humboldt  County, 
California,  which  I  believe,  is  one  of  the  most  northern  counties  of  Cali- 
fornia. I  had  all  these  years  been  hunting  something  and  I  did  not  know 
what  it  was. 

/  found  what  I  thought  was  my  objective,  or  in  other  words,  the  kind 
of  business  I  was  looking  for.  By  chance,  I  found  a  boarding  house, 
where  there  was  a  dressmaker,  and  as  I  was  out  of  employment,  I,  of 
course,  was  rubbering  around  the  house,  butting  in  many  times  when  I 
was  warned  by  other  boarders  as  overstepping  my  place  as  a  boarder. 
However,  one  afternoon,  I  was  watching  the  dressmaker  cut  a  dress  and 
when  she  had  finished  the  job,  I  said,  "Pardon  me  lady,  I  have  dis- 
covered you  make  many  mistakes  while  cutting  that  dress,"  and  as  she 
was  rather  good  natured,  she  said,  "If  you  know  so  much  about  cutting 
dresses,  I  will  introduce  you  to  my  next  customer  and  you  can  try  your 
hand,  but  if  you  spoil  the  dress  you  must  pay  for  the  goods."  And,  as 
I  was  quite  confident  I  would  not  spoil  the  goods,  I  accepted  and  soon  a 
lady  came  in  and  after  Mrs.  Dressmaker  had  chatted  with  her  for  a  few 
moments  they  told  me  to  get  busy  and  when  I  had  taken  the  measure- 
ments I  cut  the  dress  and  sewed  up  all  the  waist  seams,  the  dress  was 
fitted,  and  as  there  were  no  alterations  to  be  made  they  of  course  pro- 
nounced the  job  an  accident  and  Mrs.  Dressmaker  and  the  customer 
both  agreed  that  I  could  not  cut  another  dress  which  would  fit  without 
alterations.  Mrs.  Dressmaker  informed  me,  that  evening,  that  if  I  would 
prove  to  her  that  I  could  cut  another  dress  to  fit  without  alterations  that 
she  would  give  me  a  month's  board  and  room  for  teaching  her  and  when 
I  accepted  her  offer  she  sent  for  a  customer  and  I  cut  her  dress  and  stitched 
it  up  on  the  sewing  machine.  The  result  was  the  same,  not  a  single  al- 
teration was  required,  and  before  the  month's  board  and  room  terminated 
I  had  more  than  a  dozen  lady  students,  each  of  them  paid  me  $20.00 
for  teaching  them  to  cut  and  make  their  own  dresses  and  also  children's 
garments. 


[65] 


THE     LIFE    OF     A     ROVER 


I  APPLIED  FOR  A  PATENT  AND  SOON  IT  WAS  GRANTED 
After  my  first  class  was  finished  I  started  out  traveling  from  place  to 
place  teaching  the  ladies  to  cut  and  make  their  own  garments  and  those  of 
their  children.  I  traveled  over  many  states,  some  of  them  several  times. 
I  also  started  out  many  agents  teaching  my  method  which  I  believe  was 
the  first  dress-cutting  system  to  become  popular  in  the  United  States,  if  not 
in  the  world. 

I  WAS  MUCH  IN  NEED  OF  A  WIFE 
I  believe  I  had  several  chances  to  marry  as  fine  girls  as  any  young  man 
but  I  was  doomed  to  make  a  mistake  and  finally  I  fell  for  the  one  I  should 
have  passed  up  as  I  had  others.  It  came  about  in  this  way.  I  came  into  a 
strange  city  of  several  thousand  population  and  sent  out  my  circulars  as 
was  my  custom  and  the  ladies  came  in  with  a  rush  to  take  lessons  and 
after  I  had  made  up  a  large  class,  a  very  nice -lady  came  in  and  said  she 
wished  to  join  my  class,  but  she  had  a  young  baby  at  her  house  and  could 
not  come  to  my  school  room  to  take  lessons,  but  if  I  would  give  her  the 
lessons  at  her  home  she  would  gladly  pay  well  for  my  extra  trouble  and 
when  I  said  I  would  have  to  charge,  I  believe  it  was  $2.00  for  each  lesson 
of  one  hour  and  that  any  time  I  lost  coming  and  going  would  be  counted 
as  well  as  any  time  lost  waiting  for  her  to  get  ready  after  I  arrived  at 
her  home,  she  agreed  to  pay  the  price.  The  next  two  customers  waiting 
were  a  well-dressed  lady  of  about  fifty  years  of  age  and  a  daughter  of 
twenty  summers.  These  two  ladies  wished  to  take  lessons  at  their  home, 
also,  and  because  I  did  not  care  to  give  lessons  in  that  way,  I  made  a  price 
double  what  I  agreed  to  teach  the  other  for,  and  they  also  agreed  to  pay 
the  price  and  paid  me  a  liberal  deposit  in  advance.  When  I  called  at  the  first 
house  she  was  always  ready  to  commence  her  lesson  while  the  other  two 
were  not  quite  ready.  The  mother  always  met  me  at  the  door  to  inform 
me  her  daughter  would  be  ready  in  a  few  moments,  that  they  had  for- 
gotten about  the  time  I  was  to  call  or  that  the  stovepipe  had  fallen  down 
or  some  other  darned  thing  had  happened.  Finally  the  daughter  would 
come  in  and  when  she  was  through  telling  about  the  many  things  I  was 
not  interested  in  the  mother  would  excuse  herself  saying  she  would  return 
in  a  moment  but  she  never  returned  until  my  time  was  up,  and  then  some. 
However,  she  always  paid  me  in  full,  so  after  they  had  paid  me  three 
times  as  much  as  the  other  lady  who  had  finished  her  lessons,  this  slick- 
tongued  old  lady  invited  me  to  take  dinner  with  them  the  following 
Sunday  and  the  daughter  said  it  would  be  nice  if  I  would  drop  around 


[66] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


Sunday  morning  and  go  to  church  with  her  and  as  Sunday  was  generally  a 
lonesome  day  for  me  I  fell  for  her  invitation  and  as  we  returned  from 
church,  my  lady  said  several  times,  how  much  it  would  please  her  if  she 
could  travel  and  see  the  country  as  I  was  doing  and  to  make  a  long  story 
short  I  fell  for  a  pair  of  the  slickest  tongues  that  ever  trapped  a  hard- 
working young  man.  We  were  soon  married  and  to  hell  with  much  of 
the  rest  we  were  to  leave  for  San  Francisco  at  4:00  p.  m.  the  day  we  were 
married.  While  many  things  had  transpired  since  the  minister  said  the 
last  word  which  led  me  to  believe  hell  would  soon  be  popping  and  no 
pitch  hot  as  we  hear  people  say  when  trouble  is  expected,  so  this  slick- 
tongued  mother-in-law  informed  me,  that  my  wife  could  not  leave  home 
that  day,  that  it  would  kill  her  to  lose  her  daughter  on  such  short  notice 
but  when  the  carriages  arrived  to  take  us  to  the  station,  I  said  to  my 
wife,  "I  am  going  and  you  can  go  or  stay  with  your  mother,"  and  when 
the  bus  door  opened  my  wife  got  aboard  and  we  were  off  on  our  journey, 
but  I  knew  the  storm  was  not  over  and  at  Omaha  we  received  a  telegram 
stating  my  wife's  mother  was  dying,  and  I  tore  it  up  after  my  wife 
had  read  it  and  told  the  conductor  to  say  that  she  had  my  consent  to  die, 
and  I  believe  I  said,  ''Pity  she  had  not  died  over  twenty  years  earlier." 
This  ended  the  telegrams,  but  soon  after  we  registered  at  the  Winchester 
Hotel  on  Third  Street,  San  Francisco,  we  began  receiving  from  one  to 
three  letters  a  day,  written  by  my  wife's  mother,  telling  us  that  we  would 
soon  hear  of  her  death  unless  my  wife  returned  at  once  and  during  the 
year  we  were  at  San  Francisco  we  received  the  same  kind  of  letters  daily, 
many  of  which  I  destroyed  before  they  were  opened. 

The  middle  of  the  tenth  month  we  were  blessed  with  the  birth  of  a 
beautiful  blue-eyed  baby  girl  and  when  she  was  six  week's  old  we  returned 
to  the  home  of  this  notorious  and  many  times  reported  dying  mother-in- 
law,  with  our  lovely  baby  girl,  who  of  course  was  tired  out  by  the  long 
journey  we  had  traveled  and  as  I  was  on  my  way  to  New  York  where  I 
expected  to  establish  headquarters,  I  requested  that  the  baby  be  allowed  to 
rest  at  least  ten  days  before  family  friends  be  permitted  to  handle  her,  but 
instead  of  complying  with  my  instructions  they  gave  in  and  went  to 
entertainments  and  every  one  tossed  the  dear  little  innocent  baby  up  in  the 
air  and  from  one  to  the  other  until  they  killed  it. 


[67; 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


I  RECEIVED  A  WIRE  INFORMING  ME  MY  BABY  WAS  DEAD 
I  returned  at  once  and  after  burying  our  baby  we  started  traveling 
from  place  to  place  teaching  my  dress-cutting  system  and  finally  we 
settled  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  where  I  soon  built  up  a  large  business  and 
I  believe  I  was  soon  rated  as  the  largest  mail  order  house  in  the  United 
States.  I  had  thousands  of  agents  working  and  I  was  publishing  the  only 
large  Fashion  Journal  at  that  time  published  in  the  United  States,  if  not 
in  the  world. 

/  had  under  my  employ  a  young  man  as  an  advertising  solicitor.  I  was 
making  money  by  leaps  and  bounds  and  on  that  account  I  allowed  my 
wife  to  call  on  my  bookkeeper  for  money  at  any  and  all  times,  and  in 
such  amounts  as  she  desired.  I,  of  course,  required  my  bookkeeper  to 
render  a  report  now  and  then,  and  when  I  noticed  that  my  wife  had 
drawn  within  the  past  month,  several  times  the  amount  she  had  pre- 
viously been  drawing,  she  showed  me  several  medals  she  had  taken  as 
a  champion  roller  skater,  and  she  went  on  to  say  that  she  and  the  man 
I  had  employed  as  an  advertising  man  were  friends  and  that  he  always 
went  with  her  to  the  roller  skating  rinks  and  that  they  had  to  spend  a 
lot  of  money  to  keep  their  end  up  with  other  people.  I  fired  the  adver- 
tising man,  but  my  wife  went  with  him  to  the  rink  just  the  same,  and  a 
few  days  later  she  and  the  advertising  man  were  skating  on  the  floor  and 
ran  into  an  old  man,  knocking  him  down  to  the  floor,  so  when  he  got 
up  on  his  feet  again  he  entered  a  complaint  at  the  office  against  them  and 
the  following  day  the  advertising  man  and  my  wife  went  to  the  old  man's 
office.  The  advertising  man  held  the  old  man  while  my  wife  cowhided 
him  until  he  was  supposed  to  be  dead.  My  wife  and  the  advertising  man 
left  for  parts  unknown  to  me,  and  in  due  time  a  divorce  was  granted  and 
I,  of  course,  sold  out  my  business  and  started  roving  again,  traveling  over 
many  seas  and  foreign  lands. 

I  finally  returned  and  went  into  the  Real  Estate  business  in  Chicago, 
111.,  and  as  I  knew  nothing  about  the  game  I  met  many  so-called  friends 
who  were  willing  to  give  me  free  advice  as  to  safe  and  get-rich-quick 
investments.  I  made  many  expensive  mistakes  by  heeding  to  the  advice 
of  my  newly-made  friends  and  soon  found  I  neither  had  money  nor  friends 
and  again  I  started  roving,  and  to  change  my  luck  I  had  perfected  a  new 
kind  of  play  wagon  for  the  entertainment  of  children  so  I  sold  most  of  my 
real  estate  holdings  and  after  an  expenditure  of  more  than  $4,000.00,  my 
play  wagon  still  refused  to  work,  and  as  I  was  determined  to  perfect  that 
darned  wagon,  regardless  of  what  the  cost  might  be,  I  knew  the  thousands 
of  dollars  I  had  paid  so-called  experts,  was  lost.  I  rented  a  shop  and  went 
to  work  myself  and  now  have  more  than  a  dozen  of  the  latest  and  newest 
designs  in  the  way  of  play-wagons,  scooters,  baby-walkers,  and  many  new 
designs  in  small  play-carts,  kittycars,  my  last  and  most  wonderful  of  all 
play-wagons,  I  call  Moody's  Blue  Racer,  which  you  will  find  illustrated 
on  the  back  cover  of  this  book.     Please  do  me  the  favor  of  looking  it  over. 


[68] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


MISCELLANEOUS  COPY 
I  was  informed  that  most  of  the  older  Mormon  men  were  married  to 
their  first  wife  before  they  left  the  old  country  and  I  believe  they  all 
brought  a  family  of  from  one  to  half  a  dozen  children  with  them,  then, 
too,  there  were  quite  a  few  of  them  who  had  been  born  in  the  United 
States  and  had  lived  in  the  Mormon  Church  many  years  before  moving 
to  Utah.  I  believe  that  if  Brigham  Young  had  called  the  Mormon  people 
to  war  against  the  United  States  and  told  them  that  they  needed  no  guns, 
but  simply  use  rocks,  that  each  Mormon  would  have  filled  his  arms  with 
rocks  and  started  out  killing  gentiles.  With  all  the  teachings  of  Brigham 
Young  being  against  the  laws  of  the  United  States  he  controlled  his  people 
so  far  as  obedience  to  his  laws  as  well,  if  I  dare  say  it,  or  better  than  we 
are  now  doing  with  tens  of  thousands  of  police  and  other  law-enforcing 
officers. 

In  conclusion  I  believe  I  should  tell  about  my  experience  of  some  two 
weeks  when  I  was  left  alone  in  charge  of  our  camp.  The  entire  crew 
except  myself  went  to  Salt  Lake  City  on  a  vacation.  There  was  a  young 
Mormon  man  and  his  three  young  wives  who  lived  a  short  distance  from 
our  camp  and  as  I  had  met  the  young  man  a  few  times  and  I  believe  I  had 
met  all  of  his  wives,  when  I  called  at  their  house  to  buy  milk  or  butter. 
This  young  man  called  to  see  me  one  afternoon  and  said  he  would  be 
pleased  to  have  me  join  them  that  evening  at  supper,  which  I  accepted, 
and  while  I  had  never  before  been  inside  of  their  house,  I  knew  they  had 
a  good  clean  home  and  that  I  would  enjoy  such  a  visit  immensely.  When 
I  called,  about  5:30  p.  m.,  the  young  husband  met  me  at  the  door  and 
after  inviting  me  to  a  seat  the  three  young  wives  came  forward  and  shook 
hands  with  me.  The  one  I  afterwards  learned  was  his  first  wife  told  me 
that  they  were  pleased  to  meet  me  and  also  pleased  to  have  me  join  them 
at  supper  and  very  happy  that  I  should  spend  the  evening  with  them. 
The  dining  room  table  was  then  covered  with  a  good  variety  of  food, 
including  a  large  dish  of  fried  chicken  and  big  bowl  of  chicken  gravy. 
There  was  enough  for  a  family  of  ten  hearty  eaters.  After  we  were 
seated  at  the  table  the  young  husband  read  a  chapter  from  his  Mormon 
Bible,  then  went  through  a  long  prayer,  asking  God's  blessing  for  the 
Mormon  Church,  Brigham  Young,  and  all  the  bishops  and  elders,  and 
lastly,  the  young  gentile  who  was  present,  with  the  hope  that  he  might 
become  a  member  of  the  Mormon  Church.  I  had  noticed  that  there  was 
no  bread  on  the  table  and  as  I  expected  to  be  served  with  hot  corn 
bread  or  home-made  salt-rising  bread,  I  could  hardly  wait  until  the  bread 


[69] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


was  on  the  table;  however,  while  the  young  husband  was  serving  my 
plate  with  a  liberal  portion  of  fried  chicken,  one  of  the  young  wives  asked 
to  be  excused,  she  then  rushed  through  an  open  door  to  the  kitchen  and  in 
a  few  moments  she  returned  with  a  dish  of  as  fine  biscuits  as  ever  adorned 
a  dining  room  table.  I  ventured  to  inquire  as  to  where  she  found  those 
fine  biscuits  and  she  quickly  informed  me  there  were  plenty  more  in  the 
oven  and  as  I  knew  they  had  no  stove  in  the  house  I  was  surprised  at  the 
evtra  flavor  of  the  biscuits  and  when  I  asked  how  they  were  made  she 
gave  me  the  receipt  which  I  believe  was  as  follows: 

One  portion  of  flour,  salt,  fresh  sweet  butter,  baking  soda, 
and  well  beated  rich  sour  cream,  and  one  well-beated  egg, 
which  she  used  as  a  wash  over  the  biscuits,  just  before  they 
were  put  in  the  oven,  then  bake  them  ten  minutes  in  a 
Dutch  oven.  If  you  do  not  know  what  is  meant  by  a 
Dutch  oven  the  editor  will  take  pleasure  in  publishing  the 
answer  in  his  next  issue. 

I  have  never  since  been  better  entertained  when  visiting  a  simple  home, 
than  I  was  on  this  occasion.  After  supper  was  over  the  young  husband 
read  a  chapter  in  his  Mormon  bible  and  offered  up  a  Jengthy  prayer.  We 
then  put  in  an  hour  or  so  talking  over  the  good  and  harm  that  the 
U.  P.  Railroad  would  do  the  Mormon  people.  I  being  only  a  young  lad, 
I  did  not  dare  enter  into  a  pro  and  con  argument  with  them,  because  I 
really  did  not  know  much  about  business  matters  because  I  never  had  a 
chance  to  read-up  on  any  of  the  important  issues  of  the  day.  I  was  what 
you  would  call  a  good  listener  and  when  they  spoke  of  Brigham  Young, 
the  bishops  and  the  elders  of  the  church,  I  generally  managed  to  make 
them  believe  that  I  had  never  heard  a  word  against  either  one  of  those 
reverend  gentlemen  and  that  I  should  be  very  proud  of  being  a  member  of 
a  church  which  had  done  so  much  for  its  members.  Of  course,  I  butted 
in  several  times,  like  asking  these  young  wives  if  they  were  contented 
with  one  husband  for  the  three  of  them  and  was  promptly  informed 
that  if  their  husband  wanted  another  wife  she  too  would  be  welcome  to 
come  into  their  home.  Once  I  inquired  as  to  what  would  be  the  result 
provided  their  husband  favored  one  of  them  more  than  he  did  the  other 
and  they  said  that  was  his  privilege,  but  up  to  that  time  they  thought  he 
had"  shown  no  great  preference.  Do  you  know  that  I  would  have  gladly 
joined  the  Mormon  Church  that  same  evening  if  I  knew  I  could  become 


[70] 


THE     LIFE    OF     A     ROVER 


the  nusband  of  even  one  Mormon  girl  so  beautiful  as  either  one  of  the 
three  then  entertaining  me  and  before  bidding  the  family  good-night,  I 
was  assured  that  when  I  had  been  baptized  in  the  Mormon  faith  and  be- 
come a  member  of  the  Church  that  they  would  assist  me  in  getting  one  or 
more  wives  of  my  own  choice  and  that  I  would  be  given  a  tract  of  land 
and  help  in  making  improvements  such  as  a  house  and  a  yoke  of  oxen, 
cows,  pigs,  chickens  and  all  the  things  needed  to  start  me  on  the  road  to 
permanent  happiness.  It  was  not  my  luck  to  remain  in  that  neighborhood 
long  enough  to  become  a  member  of  the  Mormon  Church  because  of  the 
fact  that  the  big  man  of  the  outfit  returned  the  following  day  and  moved 
our  camp  over  twenty  miles  away  and  so  it  went  on  in  that  way  and  I 
never  got  a  chance  ^to  join  their  church,  as  I  was  compelled  to  move  before 
I  could  comply  with  the  apparent  wishes  of  the  many  good  people  I  met 
while  employed  as  a  roustabout,  as  the  higher  up  of  the  outfit  often  called 
me. 


[71] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


HELLEN  AND  DAN,  THE  INDIAN  SCOUT 
Hellen  and  Dan  lived  in  a  small  village  of  Southern  California  many 
years  ago  and  there  was  but  one  House-of-Worship  for  miles  thereabout, 
the  only  Public  School  Building  being  used  for  church  purposes.  The 
teacher  was  a  fine-looking  and  well-groomed  young  chap,  of  not  more  than 
twenty  years  old,  and  while  he  did  not  have  a  bad  cough,  his  breath  was 
almost  unbearable  and  Hellen  was  his  oldest  student,  the  young  school 
teacher  often  would  ask  Hellen  to  hear  a  few  of  his  classes  when  he  was 
going  out  for  a  walk,  and  because  of  this  fact  Hellen's  mother  believed 
Hellen,  herself,  was  interested  in  this  young  man  and  she  knew  that  the 
teacher  was  in  love  with  Hellen  because  he  had  often  told  her  that  Hellen 
was  not  only  the  most  beautiful  girl  in  all  the  wide  world  and  that  she 
was  endowed  with  intelligence  greater  than  all  the  other  girls  he  had 
ever  known.  Hellen's  daddy  was  a  man  of  great  learning  and  thought 
he  knew  a  man  worthy  of  Hellen's  hand  and  heart  better  than  her  mother 
did;  however,  daddy  always  said  Hellen  should  pick  her  own  husband 
and  that  all  he  would  do  for  her  and  her  husband  after  marriage  would 
be  moral  aid,  that  he  would  give  them  no  money  or  property  until  after 
his   death. 


[73] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


It  came  to  pass,  however,  that  Hellen's  birthday  was  announced  and 
when  she  was  writing  a  few  invitations  to  the  young  people  of  the  village 
she  addressed  one  of  the  envelopes  to  Dan,  and  by  chance  her  mother 
grabbed  the  envelope  and  tore  it  into  small  pieces,  then  into  the  stove, 
when  the  mother  returned  to  where  Hellen  was  addressing  envelopes  she 
picked  up  the  bunch  and  after  selecting  the  one  addressed  to  the  young 
school  teacher,  ,she  picked  all  those  addressed  to  other  young  men  and 
also  burned  them  and  handed  Hellen  the  one  directed  to  the  young  school 
teacher  and  said  in  a  determined  angry  voice  "That's  the  only  young 
man  I  will  allow  to  attend  your  party."  Helen  was  of  course  a  very  obedi- 
ent daughter  but  did  not  even  care  to  have  her  school  teacher  come  near 
her  on  account  of  his  most  offensive  breath  and  as  a  matter  of  fact  there 
was  not  a  girl  in  the  village  who  did  not  have  the  same  feeling  towards 
the  young  teacher;  while  Hellen's  mother  said  that  his  bad  breath  was  not 
his  fault,  that  it  had  been  with  him  since  a  young  lad.  The  mother  then 
went  on  to  say  that  Dan  was  not  a  bad  fellow,  in  a  way,  but  that  he 
dressed  so  much  finer  than  did  the  young  teacher  because  Dan  was  the 
owner  of  more  than  one  hundred  of  the  best  town  lots  in  the  village  and 
that  he  also  owned  Frank  and  Bill,  the  finest  span  of  horses  thereabout, 
and  a  fine  new  buggy  and  several  residences  and  stores,  which  he  rented 
out,  one  of  his  stores  was  rented  to  a  saloonkeeper,  no  such  a  man  could 
ever  come  into  her  house,  nor  would  he  be  permitted  to  meet  her  daughter 
elsewhere,  except  that  when  they  were  all  at  church  and  when  church  was 
over  he  would  not  be  permitted  to  grasp  the  hand  of  any  member  of  her 
family.  Hellen  then  said,  "Mother,  Dan  is  a  prize,  and  if  I  grant  all  you 
have  said  about  him  to  be  true,  I  want  him  any  way,  if  I  can  get  him, 
and  think  I  have  a  chance."  And  now  comes  in  daddy  and  before  the 
mother  could  get  started  again  he  said,  "Good  for  you  Hellen,  I  borrowed 
$200.00  from  Dan  the  other  day  to  pay  my  taxes."  Hellen  said,  "Daddy 
don't  you  think  Dan  a  good  fellow."  "Yes,"  he  said,  "Get  him  if  you 
can."  Hellen's  mother  then  said,  "I  will  talk  no  more,  but  will  show 
that  scamp  that  I  am  boss  of  this  home." 


741 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


The  following  Sunday  evening  we  were  all  at  church  and  Hellen's 
mother  did  not  stop  to  shake  hands  with  even  the  minister,  but  grabbed 
Hellen  by  the  arm  and  started  home,  as  she  passed  out  through  the  door, 
Dan  raised  his  hat  and  said,  "Good-evening"  to  Hellen  and  her  mother. 
The  mother  made  no  reply,  but  doubled  her  speed,  Dan  said,  "Hellen,  if 
your  mamma  is  in  a  hurry,  I  will  escort  you  home"  and  took  Hellen's  arm. 
Mother  made  a  dash  for  home  and  while  it  was  only  three  blocks  away 
Hellen  and  Dan  were  somewhat  tired,  they  walked  slowly,  talking  of 
course  about  the  splendid  sermon  they  had  heard,  when  they  reached  the 
front  gate,  Hellen,  not  dreaming  of  what  was  about  to  happen,  because 
Dan  had  not  yet  been  informed  of  the  fact  that  Hellen's  mother  would 
not  admit  him  to  visit  Hellen,  but  Hellen  thought  her  mother  had  re- 
pented because  she  did  not  get  angry  at  the  church,  Hellen  and  Dan,  as 
stated  above,  had  walked  slowly  until  they  reached  the  front  door  and 
Hellen  opened  it  and  turned  to  invite  Dan  inside  for  a  short  visit,  at  this 
moment  a  voice  rang  out  from  a  convenient  window  above  to  Hellen, 
"Get  inside  and  shut  the  door,"  and  before  the  sound  above  had  barely 
reached  the  ear  of  the  two  lovers  the  mother  of  Hellen  had  poured  three 
large  pails  of  water  on  Dan's  head  and  fired  the  empty  pails  at  his  head 
but  only  one  was  really  effective  and  that  same  with  such  force  as  to  stun 
Dan  for  a  moment,  giving  Hellen's  mother  time  to  get  down  stairs  with  a 
large  club  in  her  hand,  she  being  so  excited  that  her  first  blow  landed  on 
Hellen's  head,  and  mother  and  Hellen  both  fell  sprawling  outside  the 
door,  the  excitement  had  brought  daddy  to  the  front  door  and  he,  too, 
tumbled  out  falling  on  top  of  Hellen  as  she  was  helping  her  mother  up, 
of  course  the  three  of  them  went  to  the  ground  again  -and  while  Dan  was 
not  of  an  excitable  nature  he  was  slow  getting  into  the  mix-up,  of  course 
the  first  one  he  picked  up  was  Hellen  and  she  slipped  him  a  kiss,  but  the 
mother  heard  the  smack  and  when  Dan  offered  the  mother  assistance,  she 
smacked  him  square  in  the  mouth  and  she  did  it  so  quickly  that  Dan  had 
no  chance  to  escape.  Hellen's  mother  then  and  there  declared  war  to  the 
death  against  Dan,  but  she  still  continued  her  friendship  with  Dan's 
mother  and  sister,  who's  garden  fence  adjoined  that  of  Hellen's  mother. 


I  75  | 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


Dan  and  Hellen  had  a  system  of  telegraphing  to  each  other,  so  a 
few  afternoons  later,  Dan  heard  that  Hellen's  mother  and  his  mother 
were  visiting  at  the  home  of  Dan's  mother  and  that  they  were  then  chat- 
ting on  the  front  porch,  so  Dan  rushed  to  the  livery  stable  where  Frank 
and  Bill  boarded  and  sang  out  aloud  to  rush  Frank  and  Bill  out  and  hitch 
them  to  his  light  buggy  and  in  the  shortest  space  of  time  possible, 
Dan  was  seated  in  the  buggy  and  his  big,  fine  bobbed  tailed  steeds  were 
charging  down  the  road  toward  Hellen's  home,  she  was  expecting  that 
Dan  would  at  least  pass  by  and  raise  his  hat.  Dan  turned  his  horses  in 
near  the  gate  and  after  bringing  them  to  a  full  stop  he  turned  them 
slightly  and  reached  out  one  hand  and  said,  "Get  in  Hellen  and  we  will 
go  for  a  drive,"  without  taking  the  second  thought,  Hellen  was  seated 
beside  the  man  of  all  men  to  her  liking,  she  could  not  help  but  fear  the 
rath  of  her  mother,  should  she  learn  of  the  incident  and  she  so  expressed 
her  feeling  to  Dan,  and  went  on  to  say  she  would  be  willing  to  take  the 
beating  for  the  pleasure  of  riding  beside  her  first  and  only  lover.  Frank 
and  Bill  had  been  well  fed  and  groomed  by  men  who  were  paid  a  good 
price  for  their  care  and  they  had  not  been  called  on  to  draw  such  a  precious 
load  before,  they  were  willing  to  go  the  limit  in  front  of  the  two  lovers 
who  were  exchanging  smacks  at  every  turn  and  the  turns  were  quite 
frequent. 

After  driving  half  a  mile  or  so  out  of  town,  Dan  stopped  his  panting 
chargers  and  after  resting  them  a  moment  he  said,  "Hellen,  I  believe  it 
would  be  safe  to  drive  back  through  town,"  and  Hellen  said,  "I  am  by 
your  side  and  you  are  the  driver,"  Dan  said,  "Back  we  go,  we  will  pass 
every  house  but  mother's.  It  is  only  3:00  p.  m.  and  those  two  old  cronies 
will  not  give  up  their  visit  before  4:30  p.  m.,  and  as  they  came  back 
charging  through  the  village,  Hellen  noticed  one  of  her  young  lady 
chums  standing  at  the  gate,  she  said,  "Dan  stop  a  moment,"  he  turned  in 
near  the  gate  and  stopped  his  chargers  for  a  moment's  chat  with  (he  young 
lady,  who  was  also  Dan's  friend,  and  then  she  said,  "Hellen,  haven't  you 
room  for  me  also,"  "Sure,"  said  Hellen,  "if  you  don't  mind  sitting  on 
our  laps." 


[76] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


The  third  one  was  soon  seated  on  the  laps  of  Hellen  and  Dan,  and 
Frank  and  Bill  were  going  at  full  speed  up  and  down  one  street  and 
cross  streets  after  another  and  by  some  hook  or  crook  Hellen's  mother 
got  her  ever  watchful  eyes  on  the  joy  riders,  but  they  did  not  know  she 
had  discovered  them  until  another  young  lady  was  noticed  standing  at 
the  gate  and  to  speak  a  word  to  her,  Frank  and  Bill  were  again  brought  to 
a  stop  close  to  the  gate,  only  for  a  moment  until  the  young  lady  at  the 
gate  sang  out  aloud  "Lookout,  there  Hellen,  there's  your  mother  coming 
with  an  uplifted  club,"  and  before  a  command  could  be  given  to  Frank 
and  Bill  to  go  forward,  Hellen's  mother  had  smashed  Dan  over  the  head 
and  had  a  hold  of  Hellen's  arm,  but  the  great  chargers  were  on  their 
hind  feet  and  could  not  be  stopped  until  Hellen's  mother  had  been  jerked 
off  her  feet  and  quicker  than  you  could  say  "scat"  she  was  up  and  a 
coming,  but  the  best  she  could  do  was  to  run  second.  Frank  and  Bill  were 
too  swift  for  her,  she  returned  to  the  home  of  Dan's  mother  to  get  her 
knitting  arid  then  and  there  again  declared  war  to  the  death  against  Dan, 
saying  to  his  mother  that  she  still  hoped  to  retain  her  friendship  and  at 
this  juncture  Hellen's  daddy,  who  was  repairing  his  back  fence,  heard  his 
wife's  loud  voice  and  rushed  over  to  where  she  and  Dan's  mother  were 
about  to  part.  Daddy  said,  "mother  what  is  troubling  you,  are  you 
sick?"  "No,  not  sick,  but  that  scamp  Dan  has  my  Hellen  and  another 
gill  in  his  buggy  behind  Frank  and  Bill  charging  around  town  making  a 
great  splurge,  as  if  they  were  all  drunk."  Daddy  bursted  out  laughing  and 
said,  "Mother,  every  one  knows"  Dan  never  drinks  a  drop  of  liquor,  wine 
or  beer,  and  that  is  more  than  they  can  say  for  you  because  you  always 
have  wine  and  beer  in  the  house  and  also  a  quart  or  so  of  good  whisky," 
but  Hellen's  mother  said,  "I  drink  it  for  medicine  and  not  to  make  me  go 
joy  riding.  Now  wait  a  minute,  Mother,  don't  you  remember  that  when 
we  were  young  we  were  never  so  bold  and  happy  as  we  were  when  out 
driving,  don't  you  remember  that  our  first  kiss  was  when  our  lines 
had  fallen  from  my  hands  and  we  both  came  near  getting  turned  over  into 
a  ditch,  before  I  could  gather  up  the  reins  and  turn  oujr  speeding  horses? 

And  while  Hellen's  mother  was  dumfounded  for  an  answer  which 
she  could  give  daddy  she  finally  said,  "Dan  wouldn't  be  so  bad  if  he  only 
loved  Hellen,  but  you  see,  daddy,  he  loves  all  th6  girls  in  town,  and  they 
all  love  him,  and  that's  my  chief  reason  for  selecting  the  school  teacher 
for  Hellen,  because  the  other  girls  hate  him,  and  he  loves  Hellen,  and  we 
would  have  fco  fear  of  other  girls  making  eyes  at  him  or  wanting  to  dance 
with  him."  "But  mother,"  daddy  said,  "it's  only  a  joy  ride,  they  are 
having  lots  of  fun  and  when  Hellen  comes  home  lets  pat  her  on. the 
back  and  tell  her  we  are  pleased  that  she  had  such  a  pleasant  afternoon." 

So  Hellen's  mother  agreed  not  to  give  Hellen  the  beating  she  had 
planned  to  give  her,  but,  she  said,  "If  I  hear  of  Dan  rolling  those  big 
laughing  blue  eyes  at  any  other  girls  but  Hellen,  I  sure  will  make  him 
regret  it,"  and  all  went  well  again,  but  Hellen  and  Dan  could  not  meet  at 
Hellen's   home. 

[77] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


Howevetr  they  did  meet  again,  and  quite  often  Hellen  s  mother 
either  did  not  know  about  when  and  where  they  met  until  one  of  the 
wealthy  gentleman  of  the  village  who  had  just  married  the  belle  of  all 
the  beauties  so  far  as  his  eyes  could  see  and  as  he  had  just  finished  a 
beautiful  residence  and  had  invited  every  grown-up  to  a  house  opening, 
which  was  called  house-warming,  and  to  show  our  appreciation  of  the 
young  couple,  we  were  all  supposed  to  bring  along  a  present  for  the  bride 
and  groom,  no  matter  how  large  or  small  the  present,  if  only  a  potato,  it 
was  the  same.  At  the  hour  or  time  agreed  on,  after  the  party  had  all 
assembled,  a  man  and  woman  was  to  be  selected  to  hand  out  the  presents; 
the  man  was  to  deliver  to  the  bride  and  the  lady  to  the  groom  and  those 
selected  could  not  refuse  to  serve,  so  to  make  the  evening  more  interesting, 
Dan  was  selected  to  serve  the  bride  while  Hellen's  mother  was  to  serve 
the  groom  and  as  Dan  knew  the  groom  was  a  lover  of  good  cigars  he 
brought  a  box  of  the  best  there  was  to  be  had,  all  went  well  until  Hellen's 
mother  picked  up  the  big  square  box  and  started  to  say,  "Dan,"  to  the 
groom,  but  when  she  had  said,  "Dan,"  every  one  gave  a  yell  and  bang 
went  the  box  at  D^n's  head  and  it  was  near  being  a  good  hit  but  Hellen 
was  expecting  trouble  when  her  mother  was  handed  the  box  which,  Hellen 
had  pushed  back  out  of  the  way  until  about  the  last  to  be  called  and 
when  Hellen's  mother  raised  her  hand  to  fire  the  box  at  Dan's  head  Hellen 
accidently  fell  against  her  mother  which  prevented  the  box  making  a 
bulls-eye  hit;  however,  it  was  a  wicked  glancing  blow  and  broke  up  that 
part  of  the  evening's  sport  until  daddy  and  Dan's  mother  got  into  the 
fracas. 


78| 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


Hellen's  mother  was  about  dragging  Hellen  out  of  the  house  when 
daddy  said,  "Wait  a  minute,  mother,"  but  she  was  stubborn  and  said, 
"You  want  my  Hellen  to  marry  a  man  that  will  squander  his  money 
buying  such  big  boxes  of  cigars  as  that,  I  bet  it  cost  ten  dollars,  if  it  cost  a 
cent."  "Why,"  she  said,  "and  he  stands  there  before  me  all  dressed  up 
in  a  new  suit  of  clothes  and  Hellen,  me  and  you,  too  daddy  haven't  paid 
out  the  price  of  such  a  suit  in  years  for  our  clothing.  Dan's  mother  tried 
to  get  in  a  word  but  Hellen's  mother  out  talked  the  whole  crowd  and 
they  also  believed  she  might  yet  change  her  mind  and  say,  "We'll  all 
go  home  together."  However,  daddy  and  Dan's  mother  and  his  sister 
finally  agreed  to  leave  it  to  a  vote  of  the  house,  whether  Hellen  should 
remain  at  the  party  until  it  was  over  and  Hellen  should  be  escorted  home 
by  Dan,  and  while  Hellen's  mother  was  not  as  dumb  as  she  sometimes 
made  people  believe  she  was,  quickly  said,  "I  will  consent,"  and  she  called 
daddy  to  come  let's  go  home  and  we  all  thought  she  had  raised  the  white 
flag  and  dropped  her  fighting  arms  and  a  yell  of  joy  went  up  from  every 
tongue  but  Hellen's  mother,  including  daddy. 

The  moment  the  door  had  closed  behind  Hellen's  mother  and  daddy, 
Dan's  mother  and  a  few  others  went  home  and  the  young  people  started 
dancing  and  romping  as  but  few  such  gatherings  ever  did  before  or  since, 
and  at  4:00  a.  m.  they  were  all  tired  out  and  started  for  home  with  Hellen 
and  Dan  walking  arm  in  arm,  and  as  the  moment  arrived  for  Hellen  and 
Dan  to  disappear  in  the  darkness  they  were  again  wished  a  safe  journey 
home  but  none  expected  to  hear  the  next  day  that  Dan  was  being  led  into 
a  trap,  not  by  Hellen,  because  her  heart  was  ready  to  stop  if  it  could  save 
Dan.  However,  Hellen  and  Dan  walked  slowly  and  did  stop  and  lean 
up  against  a  fence  now  and  then  to  rest  and  do  a  little  planning  and  when 
they  were  near  Hellen's  home  they  of  course  counted  on  at  least  another 
short  rest  before  parting,  when  they  had  reached  the  gate  and  Hellen 
stepped  inside,  intending  to  turn  about  and  finish  their  visit  and  perhaps 
a  parting  kiss,  Hellen  gave  a  yell  of  warning  to  Dan  as  if  she  had  been 
attacked  by  a  robber.  Hellen's  mother  rose  up  from  behind  the  large 
gatepost  and  in  her  two  hands  she  held  a  large  club  which  she  fully  in- 
tended would  drop  Dan  to  the  ground,  but  Hellen's  warning  had  caused 
him  to  move  back  quickly  and  prepare  for  action  and  when  the  big  club 
came  down,  it  in  a  way  did  not  make  a  good  hit,  the  big  gate-post  got 


179] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


part  of  the  blow,  but  it  knocked  Dan's  hat  off  and  when  he  stepped  back 
another  step  or  so,  Hellen's  mother  swung  the  gate  wide  open  and  grabbed 
Dan's  hat  and  tore  it  to  pieces  and  then  she  said,  "Dan,  if  I  did  not  know 
your  strength,  I  would  tear  you  to  pieces,"  and  as  daddy  had  heard  the 
loud  and  naughty  words  of  Hellen's  mother  he  rushed  out  of  the  house 
dressed  in  his  night  clothing  and  persuaded  the  then  almost  crazy  wife 
and  mother  to  retire. 

There  was  more  trouble  ahead  for  Dan,  because  his  sister  informed 
him  the  following  morning  that  she  was  to  be  married  at  4:00  p.  m.  that 
day  and  would  leave  that  same  afternoon  for  the  home  of  her  husband 
and  Dan's  mother  then  said,  "Since  Nanna  is  leaving  home,  I  will  leave 
also  for  a  visit  to  your  sister  Julia,  and  I  am  also  leaving  because  you  are 
having  so  much  trouble  with  Hellen's  mother,  I  fear  she  will  kill  you 
sooner  or  later,  and  I  do  not  wish  to  be  here  when  any  more  trouble 
comes  up,"  that  left  Hellen  and  Dan  to  fight  it  out  alone.  Soon  after 
Dan's  mother  ment  away  she  wrote  him  that  she  had  received  a  letter  from 
her  brother,  who  she  said  lived  at  Eureka,  California,  and  that  her  brother 
was  rich  and  wanted  Dan  to  come  at  once  and  take  full  charge  of  his  large 
estate  to  please  a  mother  and  an  old  rich  uncle  Dan  started  at  once  for 
Eureka,  California,  taking  a  steamer  at  San  Francisco  for  Eureka,  a  distance 
of  over  five  hundred  miles  and  upon  arrival  at  Eureka,  Dan  was  informed 
his  uncle  lived  over  thirty  miles  back  in  the  mountains  and  that  there  was 
no  road  only  a  pack-mule  tril. 

The  only  thing  for  Dan  to  do  was  buy  a  horser  hit  the  trail  to  make 
the  journey  in  one  day  which  was  said  to  be  a  hard  ride,  they  said  there 
were  many  bear  and  wild  animals  like  California  lions  and  bobbed-tailed 
cats  and  that  the  cats  would  jump  from  their  hiding  places  high  up  in  the 
treesand  tear  one  to  pieces.  Dan  decided  to  buy  a  Winchester  rifle,  which 
he  did,  and  also  a  good  supply  of  ammunition  and  at  4:00  a.  m.  the  fol- 
lowing morning  Dan  was  on  the  trail,  which  trail  ran  through  as  heavy 
a  Redwood  timber,  most  of  the  way,  as  ever  grew,  and  while  there  was 
much  game  along  the  road,  or  trail,  it  was  not  really  wild  because  the 
bear  and  deer  would  hardly  stop  eating  grass  when  they  were  often  only 
a  few  yards  from  the  trail,  a  few  wolves  and  bobbed-tailed  cats,  which 
were  seen  on  or  near  the  trail,  were  shot  before  they  had  a  chance  to  get 
busy,  if  they  had  desired  to  do  so.  Finally,  about  4:30  p.  m.,  Dan  came 
up  to  his  uncle's  mountain  home  and  found  both  uncle  and  aunt  glad 
tosee  him.  They  were  both  well  and  hearty  and  did  own  several  sections 
of  that  now  valuable  Redwood  timber,  but  it  was  absolutely  worthless 
so  far  as  Dan  could  see — and  after  a  visit  of  some  two  weeks  Dan  returned 
to  take  up  the  fight  again  with  Hellen's  mother,  and  when  he  had  walked 
into  the  hotel  and  registered,  about  the  first  word  the  clerk  uttered  was 
that  we  buried  Hellen  only  yesterday.  She  died  very  suddenly,  no  one 
hardly  knew  she  was  sick. 


[80] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 

A  MECHANICAL  BEAVER 

And 
A  REAL  HOME  BUILDER 

One  who  was  not  working  for  gold  or  other  worldly  things  but  to 
build  permanent  homes  for  his  children  and  while  the  homes  he  built 
were  wonderful  in  design  he  made  them  more  beautiful  by  first  building 
a  foundation  upon  which  to  build  a  city  of  homes  and  there  was  no  rent 
or  water  bills  to  pay  because  he  and  his  family  supplied  all  the  building 
material  used  in  the  biulding  of  those  many  beautiful  homes.     The  strong 
and  most  wonderful  foundation,  this  great  mechanical  beaver  built  was,  I 
believe,  over  two  hundred  feet  long  and  about  twenty-five  to  thirty  feet 
wide  and  that  his  tenants  might  have  free  water  and  in  a  way  free  living 
he  and  his  children  were  trained  to  live  on  fresh  fish,   which  fish  were 
known  to  be  found  swimming  in  the  waters  of  a  beautiful  mountain 
stream,  and  as  this  most  wonderful  mechanic  was  one  of  great  foresight 
and  study  he  selected  a  location  for  his  home  and  the  home  of  his  children 
far  up  in  the  mountains  where  the  great  forests  of  pine  and  other  timber 
grew  in  abundance  and  as  man  had  never  found  use  for  these  great  forests 
the  mechanical  beaver  was  of  the  opinion   that   if  he  built  substantial 
homes,  or,  in  other  words,  a  city  of  homes  near  the  mountains  over  the 
waters  of  that  magnificant  current  of  rippling  water  that  to  avoid  the 
danger  of  fire  he  must  first  build  a  foundation  from  bank  to  bank,  then, 
too,  to  sit  in  one  home  and  see  the  finest  fish  man  or  beaver  has  ever 
known  passing  your  very  door  at  all  hours  of  the  day  or  night  and  the 
fact  that  these  fish  were  the  kind  known  as  real  mountain  trout  and  that 
he  and  his  family  had  agreed  one  to  the  other  that  they  would  eat  no 
other  food  than  the  fishes  of  that  beautiful  stream  of  water  known  and 
described  as  Green  River.     This  great,  but  not  noted  mechanic  first  built 
the  regulation  camp  houses  as  we  might  say  houses  for  working  men  while 
employed  building  a  gigantic  bridge  across  a  stream  of  water  which  con- 
struction camp  was  built  for  working  men  was  worthless  after  the  bridge 
had  been  completed.     This  all  wise  home-builder  was  careful  to  build  his 
temporary  homes  above  the  bridge  or  to  let  my  reader  in  on  the  meat  of 
this  really  true  story,  which  I  will  prove  to  your  own  satisfaction  I  am 
going  to  call   this  great   and    wonderful    bridge   a   dam,   and    the   great 
mechanic  I  will  call  the  big  man,  for  he  really  was,  or  at  least  he  appeared 
to  me,  as  being  much  larger  than  his  workingmen,  as  I  will  call   them 
hereafter,  because  they  were  real  workingmen  just  the  same  as  real  men 
work  and  follow  the  directions  of  a  real  man.     But  I  do  not  want  you  to 
think  for  a  moment  that  this  big  man  was  not  a  real  boss  unless  you  say 
I  am  a  liar  and  if  you  do  say  I  am  a  liar,  I  will  prove  you  are  mistaken 
because  I  was  an  eye  witness  to  the  reconstruction  of  this  great  dam  which 
I  am  telling  you  about  and  saw  with  my  own  eyes  every  thing  I  claim  to 
have  seen  and  before  you  are  through  reading  my  story  you  cannot  dispute 
a  word  of  what  I  have  written  or  may  write. 


1811 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


OF  COURSE  I  KNOW  THAT  MOST  PEOPLE  HAVE  READ 
ABOUT  BEAVER  DAMS 

The  Beavers  build  their  houses  on  water  and  while  the  writers 
you  may  have  read  about  who  say  they  have  seen  real  beaver  dams  and 
houses  built  by  beavers,  I  hardly  believe  any  of  these  writers  ever  were  an 
eye  witness  as  I  was  and  really  have  seen  and  watched  the  work  done. 
My  experience  was  one  of  the  accidents  of  a  man's  life  and  because  I 
have  always  been  a  rover  and  a  curious  person  as  I  have  often  been 
called,  I  stumbled  onto  the  opportunity  which  I  am  thankful  for,  and 
while  it  was  over  sixty  years  ago,  I  believe  you  will  say  as  a  man  once 
said  to  me  when  I  was  visiting  at  his  beautiful  home,  he  being  a  man  of 
more  than  seventy  years  and  weighed  more  than  three  hundred  pounds, 
while  his  wife  was  but  eighteen  and  weighed  less  than  one  hundred  pounds. 
I  called  this  fine  good  natured  gentleman  who  was  considered  the  wealth- 
iest man  thereabout  and  know  as  Uncle  Davy  Husher,  but  I  called 
him  Uncle  Davey,  and  as  I  had  been  invited  to  take  dinner  with  Uncle 
Davey  and  his  lovely  wife,  I  said  to  Uncle  Davey,  "Isn't  it  rather  late  for 
you  to  get  married?"  "Yes,"  he  said,  "but  it  is  better  late  than  never"  he 
went  on  to  say  that  if  he  had  met  his  wife  when  he  was  a  young  man 
he  would  have  waited  for  her  to  grow  older  and  bigger  before  marrying 
her.  The  lovely  young  wife  spoke  up  and  said,  "Dan,  you  see  I  loved 
Uncle  Davey  and  he  loved  me,  and  I  couldn't  wait  for  him  to  grow  older, 
so  we  got  married  and  we  are  happy."  Now  my  friend,  I  am  writing 
this  bit  of  history  at  this  late  day  because  I  couldn't  wait  for  it  to  grow 
older,  and  now  it's  up  to  me  to  prove  to  your  entire  satisfaction  that  you 
arereading  history  worth-while  knowing,  and  I  want  you  to  believe  it, 
because  every  word  is  true. 

It  came  about  in  this  way,  just  a  short  time  before  I  went  from  the 
town  of  Green  River,  to  a  boomerang  raidroad  town  on  the  U.  P.  R.  R. 
called  Promontory,  I  met  five  gentlemen  whom  I  had  become  acquainted 
with  at  Echo  Canyon  the  winter  before,  and  they  said  it  was  not  quite 
the  proper  time  to  go  to  Promontory  where  the  two  railroads  would 
meet,  that  they  would  like  very  much  to  have  me  join  them  in  an  outing 
of  a  week  or  so.   That  we  would  put  in  a  supply  of  grub  which  is  the  early 


[82] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


western  name  for  eatables,  that  we  would  take  with  us  also  our  rifles 
and  sidearms  as  one  of  the  gentleman  had  spoken  up  and  said  he  was 
told  that  before  we  reached  the  head  of  Green  River  we  might  run  into 
a  band  of  Indians  which  were  on  the  war  path  and  because  of  my  past 
experience  as  an  Indian  Scout*  they  very  much  wanted  me  to  go  with  them 
and  that  I  need  not  buy  any  part  of  the  grub  or  any  expense  whatever, 
because  none  of  them  had  been  favored,  as  they  called  it,  with  the  oppor- 
tunity of  fighting  or  even  dealing  with  Indians;  however,  I  said,  "boys 
let's  get  busy  if  we  are  going  on  a  forty-mile  jaunt  up  Green  River,  let's 
go."  So  we  rolled  up  our  blankets  the  following  morning  and  while  we 
knew  there  were  fish  in  abundance  and  had  reason  to  believe  that  deer 
and  much  other  game  was  plentiful,  we  of  course  only  needed  to  carry  a 
liberal  slab  of  fat  bacon  and  a  small  sack  of  flour  and  the  fixings  like  bak- 
ing powder,  plenty  of  salt  and  pepper;  also  a  few  pounds  of  coffee,  but 
no  whiskey,  except  that  which  might  be  needed  in  case  of  snake  bites. 

One  member  of  our  party  said  he  had  been  bitten  by  a  rattle  snake 
and  that  only  for  the  fact  that  he  drank  whiskey  soon  after  being  bitten 
by  a  rattle  snake,  that  he  surely  would  have  died  and  another  man  said 
he  had  been  told  there  were  poison  snakes  up  around  the  head  waters  of 
Green  River  and  another  one  said  that  Snake  River  was  one  of  the  tribu- 
taries of  Green  River.  "They  finally  bought  most  of  the  grub  we  were  to 
take  with  us,  a  purse  of  $15.00  was  made  up  and  given  to  the  man  who 
had  been  bitten  by  a  rattler,  telling  him  to  buy  more  grub  and  some 
whiskey,and  when  he  returned  with  five  gallons  of  whiskey  and  a  small 
box  of  crackers,  the  boys  inquired  as  to  what  he  had  done  with  the 
$15.00.  "Well,  you  see  after  I  had  bought  the  whiskey,  I  had  only  $1.00 
left,  so  I  bought  $14.00  worth  of  whiskey  and  a  dollar's  worth  of 
crackers,"  and  one  of  the  crowd  spoke  up  and  said,  "Why  did  you  buy 
so  many  crackers."  "I  have  always  had  a  reputation  for  finding  and  killing 
rattlesnakes,  and  while  I  searched  the  hills  over  on  that  trip  for  snakes,  I 
never  even  saw  a  single  one,"  while  the  rest  of  the  crowd  would  come 
limping  into  camp  every  little  while  and  say  they  had  been  bitten  by 
a  monster  rattle  snake  and  of  course  they  could  help  themselves  to  as 
much  whiskey  as  they  wanted,  I  never  got  a  drop  from  the  time  we  left  the 
town  of  Green  River  until  we  returned.  But  I  had  never  drank  whiskey 
since  my  young  boyhood  days  when  my  father  often  gave  us  children 
Whaho  Bitters  at  meal  time,  so  I  got  along  as  well  without  being  bitten 
by  a  rattler  as  some  of  who  claimed  they  were  bitten  several  times,  not- 
withstanding the  fact  that  I  was  doubtful  as  to  whether  their  snake 
stories  were  true  or  not.  We  had  agreed  before  starting  that  any  time 
a  member  of  the  party  was  bitten  by  a  snake  he  was  at  liberty  to  help 
himself  to  all  the  whisky  he  thought  was  required  to  kill  the  snake  poison; 
while  those  of  the  party  who  had  not  been  bitten  by  a  snake  must  not 
partake  of  even  a  morning's  morning,  as  the  saloonkeepers  used  to  call 
the  first  drink  in  the  morning. 


[83] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


After  two  and  one-half  days  travel  up  Green  River,  we  were  near  the 
objective  of  our  journey  and  we  were  looking  for  a  camping  place.  I 
sauntered  off  toward  the  river  while  the  other  men  were  taking  a  shorter 
cut  to  where  the  trail  would  run  nearer  the  river  bank,  and  soon  found 
myself  also  near  the  bank  of  the  river  and  on  account  of  the  hazy  weather 
and  pine  timber  being  so  thick  along  the  riverbank,  I  sat  down  for  a  short 
rest,  and  while  I  was  admiring  the  scenery  and  the  great  forest  of  timber 
and  the  rapid  downward  flow  of  that  beautiful  mountain  stream  of 
water,  which  was  so  clear  while  the  depth  in  many  places  was,  I  should 
say,  not  less  than  ten  or  fifteen  feet,  the  beautiful  speckled  trout  were 
dashing  about  and  really  jumping,  it  seemed  to  me  three  or  four  feet 
above  the  water  to  catch  grasshoppers  as  they  flew  low  over  the  water,  it 
was  very  interesting  to  note  every  time  a  fish  made  a  jump,  he  sure  caught 
the  grasshopper,  butthe  grasshopper  is  like  flies  and  the  more  you  catch 
or  kill  the  faster  they  come,  and  so  it  was  in  this  case,  the  grasshoppers 
kept  coming  and  the  fish  kept  jumping  and  since  I  was  so  well  entertained 
by  the  fish  catching  grasshoppers,  I  found  also  total  darkness  had  come  on 
me  before  I  had  thought  of  going  forward  to  find  my  comrades,  I  knew 
they  had  gone  up  the  river  and  to  be  sure  I  would  not  get  lost  in  the 
darkness,  I  traveled  close  to  the  water  edge.  I  had  not  gone  far  until  I 
noticed  what  looked  to  me  as  being  a  gigantic  bridge  built  from  one  bank 
of  the  river  to  the  other  and  there  were  many  objects  moving  about  on 
top  of  the  bridge  they  all  seemed  to  be  working  hard  dragging  something 
here  and  there,  there  was  also  in  evidence  one  object  which  looked  to  be 
much  larger  than  the  others  and  this  big  man  as  I  have  named  him  above 
was  sure  bossing  the  work  being  done  by  the  smaller  men,  as  I  have  named 
them.  I  could  see  they  were  working  like  real  beavers,  as  we  often  hear 
people  say  when  speaking  of  men  or  women  working  fast. 

The  darkness  was  preventing  my  getting  more  information  so  I 
started  out  to  find  where  the  boys  had  camped  and  after  meandering 
around  the  bends  of  the  river  for  a  half  mile  or  more,  I  discovered  the 
camp,  and  doubled  my  speed,  expecting  to  find  the  boys  all  well,  but 
most  of  them  had  been  bitten  by  rattlers,  and  while  they  all  said  they 
were  out  of  danger,  I  noticed  they  were  not  sure  of  a  permanent  cure  and 
were  now  and  then  taking  another  dose  of  medicine.  I,  however,  ate 
my  supper,  the  clouds  commenced  clearing  up  which  permitted  a  big  bright 
moon  to  shine  so  brightly  that  the  wild  birds  really  thought  it  was  day 
time.  I  of  course  had  not.  said  anything  to  the  other  boys  about  what  I 
discovered,  because  they  were  busy  telling  one  another  about  the  many 
snakes  they  had  run  onto  while  gathering  wood  and  catching  a  mess  of 
speckled  mountain  trout  for  supper.  I  was,  however,  wondering  if  the 
big  man  would  work  a  night  shift,  and  if  he  did,  I  might  get  down  close 
to  where  he  and  his  crew,  were  working  and  learn  more  about  that 
gigantic  bridge  I  had  seen  but  an  hour  or  so  ago. 


[84] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


The  moon  seemed  to  be  getting  larger  and  brighter,  so  I  said  to  the 
other  boys-that  I  was  going  back  down  the  river  for  awhile,  that  I  might 
run  onto  a  deer  and  bag  him,  they  were  all  rather  glad  to  have  me  go  so 
that  they  might  take  more  rattle  snake  medicine,  I  being  younger  than  the 
other  members  of  the  party  they  said  "Be  careful,  Dan,  watchout  for 
rattlers."  "Yes,"  I  said,  "I  will  be  careful,"  and  buckled  on  my  belt  to 
which  hung  my  two  trusty  six  shooters,  then  picked  up  my  rifle,  and 
took  the  short  cut  to  the  big  bridge.  When  I  reached  the  spot  where  I 
thought  one  could  get  a  good  view  of  the  big  bridge  and  the  big  man, 
I  sat  down  and  waited  for  what  might  be  going  on,  and. after  waiting  a 
few  moments,  I  noticed  the  big  man  come  out  of  the  largest  house  there 
was  in  sight  and  he  soon  came  out  on  the  sand,  almost  in  front  of  me,  and 
ran  up  and  down  the  edge  of  the  water,  when  he  seemed  to  have  decided 
on  the  big  pine  tree  which  was  not  more  than  seventy-five  feet  from  where 
I  was  hidden  behind  a  cluster  of  rocks,  It  was  so  close  I  almost  wished  I 
were  farther  away  least  the  big  man  might  discover  me  and  dismiss  his 
night  shift,  but  he  was  satisfied  that  all  was  well  and  made  a  squeaking 
noise  and  flapped  his  big  tail  on  the  sand  a  few  times  and  another  big 
surprise  for  me  was  quickly  in  evidence  for  more  than  thirty  small  men 
plunger  into  the  water  and  swam  to  the  edge  of  the  bank,  after  another 
squeaking  noise  and  a  few  slaps  on  the  sand  by  the  big  man  six  of  the 
small  men  came  out  of  the  water  and  rushed  up  to  the  big  man  standing 
near  the  large  pine  tree  which  stood  directly  in  front  of  me.  Three 
of  the  small  men  were  stationed  about  seven  or  eight  feet  above  the 
three,  one  on  the  upper  side,  and  the  other  two  facing  each  other  on  the 
lower  side  of  the  big  tree,  which  was  at  least  two  feet  thick,  when  the  big 
man  gave  another  shriek  and  a  few  strikes  on  the  sand  with  his  tail,  the 


[85] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


three  small  men  commenced  making  the  bark  fly  and  with  such  fury  that 
one  could  hardly  believe  his  own  eyes;  the  two  small  men  on  the  lower 
side  tore  off  the  bark  of  a  space  fully  two  feet  up  and  down  and  tapered 
the  cut  so  that  the  other  small  man  only  had  to  cut  out  about  a  foot. 
When  the  bark  was  off  the  big  man  ran  around  the  tree  as  if  to  inspect  the 
job,  and  then  made  another  shriek  and  a  few  slaps  of  his  tail  on  the  sand. 
The  first  three  small  men  went  down  to  the  water  edge  and  the  other 
three  which  were  stationed  above  the  three  rushed  to  the  job  and  com- 
menced cutting  around  the  edge  of  the  bark  at  top  and  bottom,  the  big 
man  all  the  time  watching  closely,  in  just  a  few  minutes  the  big  man 
made  another  shriek  and  a  few  more  slaps  with  his  tail  and  if  ever  the 
splinters  flew  fast,  these  small  men  sure  were  trying  to  excell,  and  it  went 
on  that  way,  one  shift  after  the  other  until  all  the  twenty-five  or  thirty 
small  men  had  worked  ?  shift  when  the  first  three  were  recalled,  and  they 
seemed  to  be  more  experienced  than  some  of  the  others  because  when  the 
big  tree  began  to  wabble  as  if  it  was  about  to  fall  the  workers  moved 
about  as  if  they  knew  just  where  to  tear  out  a  chip  to  swing  the  tree's 
course  one  way  or  the  other.  The  big  man,  however,  changed  the  shift 
and  the  watchers  all  went  back  in  the  water  and  disappeared  under  and 
about  the  big  dam.  The  big  man  kept  giving  orders  and  the  little  men 
were  working  faster  and  faster  until  the  big  man  finally  stopped  one  of 
the  lower  side  men  and  put  the  other  to  work  on  the  upper  side.  The 
big  tree  was  about  conquered  and  was  sure  to  make  a  big  plunge  over  the 
bank  into  the  water  while  the  men  working  on  the  upper  side  were  tearing 
out  the  chips  so  fast  that  one  could  hardly  see  them.  The  big  man  was 
changing  them  from  place  to  place  until  the  tree  started  to  fall  with  a 
crash  and  of  all  the  squeaking  you  ever  heard  and  the  rapid  slaps  that  the 
big  man,  surely  did  send  a  warning  to  all  his  small  men  to  get  out  of  the 
way  and  when  that  big  tree  finally  tumbled  over  the  bank  into  the  water 
and  the  great  surprise  to  me  that  the  butt  end  of  he  tree  swung  around 
and  fell  up  stream  and  a  hundred  voices  rang  out  as  if  it  were  a  lot  of  real 
men  rejoicing  over  something  they  had  done  which  proved  a  great  success. 

NOW  THEY  COME  THICK  AND  FAST 
Now  they  come  thick  and  fast.  I  will  say  more  than  one  hundred 
small  men  came  from  everywhere  and  into  the  top  of  that  monster  tree  and 
while  some  of  them  were  cutting  limbs,  the  others  as  it  seemed  to  me, 
were  pulling  the  tree  farther  out  in  the  stream  and  while  I  was  so  pleased 
with  my  evening's  entertainment  and  did  not  remain  up  later,  I  then 
returned  to  camp  and  found  the  boys  were  cured  of  their  snake  bites. 


[86] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


A  GOOD  SCARE 
The  following  morning,  however,  we  got  a  good  scare  while  we  were 
eating  breakfast  a  big  black  bear  came  in  sight  a  fourth  of  a  mile  up  the  can- 
yon, we  of  course  supposed  the  Indians  were  on  the  war  path  and  had  driv- 
en the  bear  over  the  hill  hoping  we  might  get  scattered  out  and  in  hopes  of 
our  getting  the  bear  and  tha  they  could  dash  on  one  at  a  time  and  get  the 
bunch  of  us,  but  as  they  all  looked  to  me  for  orders,  in  case  of  Indians, 
I  gave  a  quick  order  for  every  man  to  scatter  out  on  a  direct  line  across  the 
lower  end  of  the  canyon,  so  that  we  would  all  get  in  action  at  the  same 
time  if  the  Indians  followed  the  bear  and  if  there  were  no  Indians  that  Jrhe 
bear  could  not  get  away,  so  Mr.  Bear  came  trotting  down  the  Canyon 
until  near  us  and  I  yelled  out  "Fire,"  and  fire  it  was,  we  of  course  all 
claimed  to  have  fired  first,  but  I  do  not  believe  there  was  little  difference 
in  the  time  the  six  triggers  were  touched  because  every  ball  hit  its  mark, 
and  of  course  the  poor  bear  had  no  chance  whatever,  he  simply  was  dead 
before  he  fell,  because  he  just  dropped  down  on  his  knees  dead  with  a  ball 
in  his  brain  and  his  heart  also. 

We  skinned  the  bear  and  only  for  the  fact  that  a  bunch  of  friendly 
Indians  came  in  to  the  camp  the  day  we  were  returning,  we  would  have 
been  compelled  to  throw  over  half  his  meat  to  the  wolves,  which  were 
quite  thick,  but  the  Indians  soon  cut  the  meat  in  strips  and  made  ropes  of 
the  bear's  hide  and  hung  the  meat  up  on  small  limbs  of  trees  to  dry,  saying 
they  would  return  later  for  it. 

I  returned  several  times  to  watch  my  big  man  and  his  crew  work  and 
did  take  the  whole  crowd  with  me,  but  they  were  not  so  much  interested 
as  I.  The  friendly  Indians  told  me  that  the  Big  Beaver  Dam  was  originally 
built  years  before  it  was  discovered  by  me,  but  they  said  the  beavers 
made  it  over  every  year,  that  is  to  say,  when  the  heavy  snow  melted  on 
the  mountains,  that  the  river  got  very  high  and  would  destroy  a  part 
of  the  dam  just  the  same  as  the  high  waters  destroy  our  bridges  and 
sometimes  destroy  our  houses  also. 

We  finally  made  our  way  back  to  Green  River  and  soon  lost  sight  of 
each  other.     I  have  never  seen  or  heard  of  any  of  them  since. 

Los  Angeles,  California,  was  only  a  small  wild  and  wooly  western 
village  in  1871.  I  speak  of  1871  because  the  story  or  incident  hap- 
pened on  the  day  after  the  great  Chicago  fire.  In  those  days  there  were 
hone  who  believed  Los  Angeles  would  ever  be  considered  a  big  city. 
There  were  few  buildings  more  than  one  story  high.  The  population 
was,  I  believe,  all  told,  about  2,700  souls;  that  is,  human  beings.  There 
were  billions  of  flies,  grasshoppers  and  other  pests,  but  most  people 
thought  the  Chinaman  was  the  most  undesirable  pest,  because  he  was 
willing  to  work  for  a  wage  as  low  as  25  cents  a  day  and  give  half  of 
whatever  his  wages  might  be  to  the  Boss  Chinaman,  who,  in  turn,  gave 
most  of  what  he  received  to  the  syndicate  who  imported  the  Chinamen. 


T87] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


BEGINNING  THE  YEAR  1865 
At  the  close  of  the  war  there  were  many  men  who  had  by  some  hook 
or  crook,  become  the  possessors  of  a  few  thousand  dollars  and  to  make 
money  without  hard  work  was  their  only  thought  to  get-rich-quick, 
without  work.  Some  of  these  men  had  been  in  China  and  they  knew 
of  the  tens  of  thousands  of  almost  starving  Chinamen.  The  thought 
came  to  them  that  it  would  be  a  big  money-making  scheme  to  send  a  rep- 
resentative to  China  and  charter  ships  to  bring  those  hungry  Mongolians 
to  America  and  hire  them  out  as  servants  and  to  do  all  kinds  of  manual 
labor,  not  because  there  were  no  idle  men  in  America,  but  because  the 
idle  men  of  America  had  made  a  living  during  the  war  without  doing 
hard  work  and  though,  they,  or  most  of  them,  had  squandered  nearly 
every  dollar  they  had  when  discharged  from  the  army.  They  seemed  to 
think  in  the  beginning,  that  it  was  nice  to  hire  a  Chinaman  at  two  dollars 
a  week,  to  do  the  things  they  should  do  themselves,  and  soon  the  house- 
wife learned  that  Chinamen  could  wash,  iron,  cleanup  the  kitchen,  and 
later  on  the  Chinaman  was  employed  to  do  the  family  cooking,  also  act 
as  maid  for  the  wife  and  children.  All  things  went  on  and  on  until  the 
Chinaman  commenced  to  get  their  freedom  from  the  men  who  had  brought 
them  to  America.  The  Chinamen  who  had  worked  out  their  bondage 
commenced  importing  Chinamen  to  knock  out  the  American  importers. 
The  Chinese  importers  refused  to  supply  competent  interpreters  and  it 
soon  came  about  that  the  Chinamen  who  had  been  imported  by  the 
Americans,  could  get  no  employment  and  the  get-rich-quick  Americans 
soon  dropped  out  of  the  business,  but  not,  however,  until  there  had 
been  two  distinct  factions  of  Chinese  organized  in  and  throughout  the 
entire  state  of  California.  These  Chinese  factions  were  generally  called 
Longshoremen  and  Hongkong  Chinamen  when  they  met  there  was  a  fight 
to  the  death. 

THE  CHINESE  GOVERNMENT  SENDS 'DELEGATES 
The  Chinese  government  sent  delegates  to  California  with  instructions 
to  try  and  make  peace  between  these  two  factions.     These  delegates  were 
also  instructed  to  return  the  body  of  every  dead  Chinaman  they  could 
find  in  America. 

HERE'S  WHERE  THE  CORONER  OF  LOS  ANGELES  MADE 

HIS  FORTUNE 
The  Coroner  of  Los  Angeles  made  his^fortune  under  the  laws  of 
California.     At  that  time  a  human  body  could  not  be  moved  out  of  the 
limits  of  the  state  without  the  consent  of  the  coroner. 

THE  TWO  FACTIONS  OF  CHINESE 
The  two  factions  of  Chinese  had  become  so  determined  to  destroy 
each  other  that  they  had  bought  up  every  pistol  and  gun  which  money 
could  buy. 


[88] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


CHINESE  GIRLS  WERE  VALUED  AT  ONE  TO  TWO 
THOUSAND  DOLLARS 
Chinese  girls  were  valued  at  one  to  two  thousand  dollars.  Hong- 
kong girls  were  valued  much  higher  than  the  Longshore  girls.  The 
leader  of  the  Hongkong  faction  made  an  order  that  if  a  Longshore  China- 
man bought  a  Hongkong  girl,  that  both  the  man  and  girl  should  be 
burned  alive,  and,  of  course,  this  order  made  the  Longshore  Chinamen 
more  determined  to  test  the  order  and  when  the  next  Hongkong  girl  was 
offered  for  sale,  a  Longshore  Chinaman  bought  her.  The  Hongkong 
chief  issued  an  order  at  once  that  the  two  should  be  burned  alive  and 
when  they  heard  of  the  order  they  started  for  the  mountains  and  were 
finally  overtaken  and  both  were  burned  to  death. 

THE  AWFUL  NEWS  SOON  REACHES  LOS  ANGELES 
The  sheriff  of  Los  Angeles  issued  a  call  for  men  to  stand  ready  to 
help  put  the  two  Chinese  armies  out  of  business,  but  the  sheriff  had 
waited  too  long — the  war  was  on.  The  population  of  Los  Angeles  was 
divided,  there  were  more  Spaniards  and  Mexicans  than  there  were 
Americans. 

GAMBLING  OF  ALL  KINDS  WAS  RUNNING  WIDE  OPEN 
Saloons  where  men  and  women  were  singing  and  dancing,  to  beat 
the  band,  were  thick. 

THE  WAR  STARTED  ABOUT  5  P.  M. 
The  Police  Department  consisted  of  fifteen  mounted  officers  and  a 
few  rounders,  they  called  them  non-uniformed  men.  I  believe  the  salary 
was  about  $60.00  a  month.  The  mounted  men  were  mostly  Spaniards, 
each  man  was  armed  with  a  club  and  two  big  six  shooters  which  they 
could  use  and  did  use  them  when  there  was  anything  doing. 

THE  SHERIFF  WAS  A  MAN  NOT  AFRAID  TO  GET 
INTO  TROUBLE 
The  sheriff  was  a  man  not  afraid  to  get  into  trouble  with  gunmen  but 
had  rather  encouraged  the  Chinamen,  not  caring  how  many  they  killed, 
or  even  burned  to  the  stake.  He  often  said  there  were  too  many  China- 
men. The  Chinamen  were  segregated  into  the  old  Mexican  part  of  the 
city.  The  Hongkongs,  or  a  great  many  of  them,  lived  in  one  large  build- 
ing, which  at  one  time  many  years  ago  was  the  residence  of  a  rich 
Spaniard.  I  believe  this  building  was  said  to  be  about  250  feet  square. 
It  was  a  one-story  adobe  building,  there  was  a  large  square  court  in  the 
center  of  this  building  and  it  was  called  the  Cornell  Building.  The  south 
side  of  the  building  fronted  a  big  square  of  some  five  or  six  acres  of 
vacant  land  and  at  that  time  they  called  it  Market  Square. 


89  J 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


THE  LONGSHORE  CHINAMEN  LIVED  IN  THE  ADOBE 

BUILDING 

The  Longshore  Chinamen  lived  in  the  adobe  building  fronting  on 
three  sides  of  the  Cornell  Building,  and  separated  only  by  a  very  narrow 
street.  One  of  these  streets  was  called  Chinese  Alley,  and  it  was  this 
little  narrow  street  where  the  two  factions  met  in  bunches  and  generally 
killed  three  or  four  of  each  side  before  the  police  could  arrive. 

THERE  WERE  NONE  TO  CLAIM  THE  DEAD 
There  were  none  to  claim  the  dead.    They  were  buried  by  the  county 
and  seldom  any  arrests  were  made  because  in  those  days  all  Chinamen 
looked  alike;  they  were  all  about  the  same  size  and  dressed  the  same, 
there  was  no  use  hunting  for  the  gunmen. 

AT  ABOUT  5:00  O'CLOCK  A  BATTLE  STARTED  IN 
CHINESE  ALLEY 
About  5:00  p.  m.,  a  battle  started  in  Chinese  Alley.  I  was  at  that 
moment  about  one  hundred  yards  from  the  end  of  the  alley  and  as  the 
Chinamen  were  lined  up  on  both  sides  of  the  alley,  firing  at  each  other,  I 
did  not  believe  I  would  be  in  range  of  their  bullets,  so  I  walked  toward 
them  and  when  I  was  near  the  end  of  the  alley  I  noticed  a  mounted 
police  officer  coming  at  full  speed  and  before  I  could  get  out  of  his  way, 
he  turned  his  horse  to  avoid  striking  me;  the  horse  almost  fell.  One  of 
the  officer's  six  shooters  fell,  he  did  not  stop,  but  ran  his  horse  into  the 
thickest  of  the  fray.  He  jumped  from  his  saddle  on  top  of  two  China- 
men and  instructed  me  to, look  after  his  horse.  The  other  Chinamen  ran 
into  their  forts  and  about  this  time  a  man  by  the  name  of  Bob  Thomp- 
son, a  noted  gambler,  came  to  the  policeman's  aid.  They  both  started 
to  lead  these  two  Chinamen  to  jail,  but  only  walked  a  few  steps  until  both 
Chinamen  dropped  to  the  sidewalk  and  in  a  second  they  were  inside 
a  door.  Bob  Thompson  followed  them  and  as  he  entered  the  door  a 
a  bullet  was  sent  through  his  heart.  The  policeman  also  started  to  enter 
the  door  but  as  he  entered  his  arm  was  grabbed  by  a  dozen  Chinamen, 
his  pistol  taken — he  was  pushed  outside  and  a  Chinaman  dashed  out  the 
door  and  shot  the  policeman  with  his  own  pistol.  The  Chinamen  then, 
on  both  sides,  turned  against  the  Americans  and  started  firing  at  any  man 
or  woman  they  could  see;  many  bullets  passed  close  to  me  but  I  only 
found  a  few  holes  in  my  clothing  and  hat.  I  was  the  first  eye  witness 
to  reach  the  sheriff's  office  with  the  news.  He  handed  me  two  six  shooters 
and  sent  me  back  as  a  deputy,  with  instructions  to  kill  any  Chinaman  I 
saw  on  the  street. 


[90] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


ONLY  A  FEW  MOMENTS 
Only  a  few  moments  until  we  could  see  and  hear  people  coming  from 
every  direction.  I  do  not  believe  it  was  half  an  hour  until  over  five  hun- 
dred were  in  front  of  that  building,  but  it  was  considered  dangerous  tc 
get  close  because  we  knew  it  was  full  of  armed  Chinamen.  Soon,  how- 
ever, men  climbed  to  the  top  of  the  building  and  with  axes  they  cut  holes 
through  the  roof  and  after  firing  many  shots  the  men  went  through  them 
and  killed  every  Chinaman  they  found. 

I  NOW  CALL  ATTENTION  TO  THE  MOST  REMARKABLE 
INCIDENT  OF  MY  LIFE 
The  most  remarkable  incident  of  my  whole  life  and  I  am  past  eighty- 
four  years  of  age.  A  Chinese  woman  walked  out  in  front  of  five  hundred 
or  more  men,  with  a  candle  in  her  hand  which  was  burning  and  that 
great  mass  of  armed  men,  not  over  fifty  yards  from  her,  fired  at  her. 
There  was  a  real  blaze  of  fire,  some  with  pistols,  others  with  rifles  and 
shotguns. 

THE  LIGHT  WAS  SHOT  OUT  AT  LEAST  THREE  TIMES 
The  light  was  shot  out  at  least  three  times  and  she  deliberately  lighted 
it  again. 

THE  SHERIFF  CHARGED  DOWN  THE  LINE  AND 

FIRING  CEASED 

The  sheriff  finally  charged  down  the  line  and  the  firing  ceased,  the 

woman  never  moved.     The  crowd  rushed  on  her  and  it  was  said  her 

clothing  was  full  of  holes  and  I  know  the  door  and  wall  all  around  her 

was  full  of  bullets  because  I  examined  it  myself. 

About  this  time  the  men  on  the  roof  and  in  the  building  were  joined 
by  hundreds  of  other  men  and  they  were  dragging  out  Chinamen  in 
bunches.  There  were  several  large,  old-fashioned  Santa  Fe  wagons  near- 
by. They  tied  ropes  around  the  necks  of  the  Chinamen  and  then  tied 
the  other  end  to  the  wagonwheel  and  twisted  their  bodies  until  they 
chocked  to  death.  I,  myself,  helped  haul  in  the  dead  and  we  found  ten 
tied  to  one  wagonwheel.  I  believe,  all  told,  we  carried  in  about  250  dead, 
and  there  were  many  more  followed  into  the  back  country,  which,  I 
understand,  were  killed  and  left  for  the  wolves  to  devour. 

FORTY-NINE  OF  THE  MOB  WERE  INDICTED 
Forty-nine  of  the  mob  were  indicted,  nine  of  them  were  convicted  of 
manslaughter.     The  governor  pardoned  them. 

THE  CORONER  GETS  HIS 
The  Chinese  delegates  wanted  to  ship  these  dead  bodies  back  to  China. 
I  was  informed  that  the  coroner  charged  $400  for  each  body  and  the 
whole  sum  was  under  the  state  law  at  that  time.     All  money  received  for 
bodies  to  be  moved  outside  the  state  belonged  to  the  Coroner. 


[91] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


MY  FIRST  VISIT  AT  SAN  JOSE,  CALIFORNIA 
In  1873,  the  early  spring  I  believe  it  was,  I  dropped  off  the  train 
and  put  up  at  San  Jose  Hotel.  After  I  had  registered,  I  noticed  the  pro- 
prietor's name  was  also  Moody,  and  when  he  turned  the  book  around 
to  jot  down  the  number  of  my  room,  he  said,  -'Young  man,  are  you  a 
stranger  here?''  and  when  I  said  I  was,  then  he  said,  "You  have  many 
relatives  hereabout.  "May  I  ask  you  where  you  were  born?"  "Mis- 
souri," he  said.  "Where  is  your  father  buried?"  "At  Carrloton,  Mis- 
souri." "Was  your  father's  first  name  James  Moody?"  "Yes,  sir." 
"My  father's  name  was  John  Moody  and  he  had  two  sisters,  whose  first 
names  were  Jennie  and  Polly.  They  both  married  men  by  the  name 
of  Haun."  Then  I  said,  "They  are  my  father's  brother  and  sisters." 
"Well,  if  I  ever  expected  you  to  drop  in  and  register."  Then  he  went  on 
to  say,  "Your  first  name  is  Dan?"  "Yes,"  I  said,  "that's  what  mama  called 
me,  but  I  made  a  slight  change  in  it  when  I  started  out  as  a  Rover,  and 
I  now  sign  my  name  as  you  see  on  the  register."  "Yes,"  he  said,  "and 
that  is  why  I  inquired  as  to  you  being  a  stranger  in  these  parts,  because 
I  know  over  two  hundred  Moodys  and  never  before  heard  of  D.  W. 
Moody.  Come  with  me,  Cousin  Dan,  I  want  to  introduce  you  to  my 
wife  and  children,"  and  a  jolly  crowd  they  were.  I  was  given  a  seat 
in  the  parlor  and  soon  the  good-natured  wife  was  introduced  and  as  evi- 
dence of  my  welcome,  she  put  her  arms  around  me  and  gave  me  a  big 
kiss.  Then  came  the  six  children  and  they,  too,  were  as  glad  to  see  me 
as  if  I  were  Santa  Claus,  and  had  just  dumped  a  wheelbarrow-load  of 
toys  down  the  chimney.  The  wife  had  a  reputation  for  excellent  cook- 
ing and  while  the  children  were  entertaining  me,  showing  me  hundreds 
of  pictures  of  the  Moodys  and  Hauns,  the  wife  was  busy  preparing  a 
dinner,  fit  for  a  king,  and  after  eating  and  visiting  for  fully  one  hour  at 
the  table,  my  newly  found  cousin  said,  "Cousin  Dan,  I  will  hitch  up  a 
span  of  Patchon  colts  and  drive  you  over  to  Santa  Clara,  and  introduce 
you  to  my  father,  your  Uncle  John,  and  also  Aunt  Jennie  Haun,  and  a 
lot  of  your  cousins."  When  he  drove  up  in  front  of  the  hotel,  behind 
those  two  brown  Patchon,  fur-year-ids,  they  were  both  chewing  on  the 
bridle  bits  and  stomping  their  feet  as  if  begging  to  go  at  full  speed. 
Finally  the  family  were  all  seated  on  the  back  seats  of  a  three-thousand- 
dollar  carriage,  and  I,  beside  my  cousin  on  the  front  seat,  the  lines  were 
slackened  slightly  and  those  brown  steeds  started  on  a  240  gate,  and  pull- 
ing hard  on  the  bit,  as  if  they  wanted  to  go  faster.  The  road  was  in  fine 
condition  and  the  distance  only  about  three  miles.  We  first  stopped  at 
Uncle  John  Moody's,  and  to  say  he  was  glad  to  meet  me  hardly  ex- 
pressed his  joy,  because  he  was  then  nearly  one  hundred  years  old.  He 
really  lifted  me  off  the  ground  and  led  me  into  the  house,  where  I  met 
his  good  old,  loving  and  kind  wife  who  gave  me  many  kisses  and  many 
times  said,  "We  have  often  talked  about  Brother  James'  family  and  now 
we  have  with  us  one  of  his  own  sons,  a  big  fine  healthy  boy."  I  inquired 
as  to  Aunt  Jennie  and  Uncle  John  and  Aunt  Polly.     Both  spoke  up  and 


[92] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


said,  "She  will  soon  be  here,  we  have  sent  for  her."  And  soon  she  drove 
up  in  front  of  the  house,  she,  also,  driving  a  big  fine  horse,  and  it  was  a 
great  surprise  to  see  how  quickly  she  stepped  out  of  that  buggy  and  came 
rushing  into  the  house.  She  did  not  wait  for  an  introduction;  she  threw 
her  ninety-five-year-old  arms  around  my  neck  and  said,  "You  do  not 
know  how  glad  I  am  to  see  you,  I  know  you  are  Brither  James'  boy,  be- 
cause you  are  the  very  picture  of  him,  you  were  only  a  small  boy  when 
we  saw  you  last,  and  now  after  all  these  years  you  come  to  visit  and  make 
us  so  happy  that  we  feel  many  years  younger  and  we  hope  you  will  settle 
nearby  so  we  can  see  you,  often."  All  this  time  Uncle  John  and  Aunt 
Polly,  my  cousin,  his  wife,  their  children,  and  several  other  relation  were 
standing  nearby  to  put  in  a  word  of  welcome  as  often  as  there  was  a 
chance.  There  I  was,  a  big,  long,  bushy-headed,  uncultivated,  bull- 
whacker,  and  Indian  scout,  dressed  in  the  latest  fashion,  because  I  had 
plenty  of  money,  but  no  social  education  whatever.  Of  course,  I  had 
been  roving  around  a  few  years  since  I  had  quit  the  wild  and  woolly  west, 
but  did  not  know  anything  about  visiting  with  friends  or  relation.  I 
had,  up  to  that  time,  eaten  very  few  meals,  since  1865,  except  at  camp 
or  hotels,  but  they  soon  taught  me  the  ropes.  It  was  sure  a  great  change 
for  me  to  live,  sleep  and  eat  to  my  heart's  content  and  not  allowed  to 
part  with  as  much  as  a  two-bit  piece  of  silver.  I  strung  my  visit  out  for 
a  whole  month  or  more  and  was  apparently  more  welcome  each  day.  I 
cannot  understand  why  I  did  not  settle  down  and  stay  there,  because  I 
loved  not  only  my  relatives,  but  the  whole  community.  The  most  of  my 
relatives  were  considered  wealthy  and  I  believe  they  all  owned  their  own 
homes  and  had  plenty  of  other  property. 


[93] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


Five  years  later  I  dropped  off  again  at  Santa  Clara  and  Uncle  John 
was  still  living,  but  his  wife  had  died  and  Aunt  Jennie  died  the  night  I 
arrived,  the  children  said  she  fell,  getting  out  of  the  buggy  and  broke  her 
collar  bone.  I  was  only  present  a  few  moments  before  Aunt  Jennie  died. 
When  I  came  in  the  room,  she  raised  her  head  so  I  could  put  my  arm 
around  her  neck  and  when  I  stooped  over  and  kissed  her,  she  said,  "Good 
bye,"  and  the  last  breath  left  her.  They  were  all  like  my  mother  and 
father,  good  Christian  people.  I  never  heard  of  a  drunkard  or  thief  in  the 
family,  the  chief  reason  I  believe  was  because  they  all  were  close  friends 
and  met  at  the  church  and  Sunday  school  on  the  Sabbath  Day  and  visited 
with  one  another  Sundays  and  evenings,  and  if  there  was  sickness  in  one 
family,  there  were  many  willing  hands  at  their  bedside  to  offer  aid  and 
open  pocketbooks,  ready  to  be  emptied  in  the  lap  of  the  unfortunate. 
They  lived  as  relation  and  friends  should  live,  not  for  diamonds  and 
gold,  but  to  give  and  receive  at  times  of  need. 

My  place  of  business  is  on  a  busy  street,  my  office  facing  a  large  plate- 
glass  window.  I  notice  thousands  of  working  girls  passing  day  by  day, 
dressed  in  the  height  of  fashion,  and  I  also  see,  every  day,  more  than 
fifty  well-dressed  men  running  up  and  down  the  stairs  with  big  bundles 
of  bills  to  collect  from  people  who  have  bought  this  or  that  on  the  in- 
stallment plan  and  when  I  stop  to  think  how  much  it  costs  to  collect  these 
small  amounts  of  fifty  cents  to  two  dollars  a  week,  you  can  readily  see 
that  the  working  people  are  paying  more  than  double  the  cash  value  of 
every  item  they  buy  and  we  often  hear  of  some  woman  or  young  nian 
being  arrested  for  non-payment  of  such  accounts  as  I  have  describe^  above. 
They  are  arrested  and  put  in  jail  if  the  garment  or  other  item  tjtiey  pur- 
chased is  not  paid  for  as  agreed  to  in  the  ironclad  contract  with^  ninety- 
nine  out  of  every  hundred  sign  without  reading.  I  am  often  Requested 
to  loan  money  to  young  men  or  women  to  help  them  meet  the  payments 
on  things  they  should  not  have  bought,  because  they  could  have  purchased 
a  substitute  for  the  amount  they  paid  as  first  payment  on  the  same  item, 
hey  still  have  a  year's  payments  to  make  on  the  article  bought  on  the  in- 
stallment plan.  It's  easy  to  get  in  debt  and  it's  hard  on  a  fellow  when  the 
collector  comes  around,  because  he  is  generally  a  hard-boiled  rough, 
abusive  scamp  who  would  throw  a  sick  woman  out  of  a  house,  if  in  his 
power,  when  it  cost  his  concern  several  times  the  amount  of  the  bill  then 
due.  My  motto  is  to  buy  for  cash  as  I  always  have  done  and  buy  the 
grade  of  goods  I  can  afford.     I  wish  others  would  do  the  same. 

I  am  publishing  my  book  in  two  grades  of  prices,  the  reading  is  the 
same  in  each  of  them,  and  while  my  profit  is  much  larger  on  the  higher 
priced  book,  I  sure  would  not  advise  the  workingman  or  woman  to  buy 
the  high-priced  book,  but  there  are  people  who  can  well  afford  to  pay  the 
highest  price  because  they  have  the  money  and  no  debts.  I  have  given 
a  great  deal  of  advice  to  my  readers  in  this  book,  because  I  had  had  lots 
of  experience  and  many  ups  and  downs.     I  believe  there's  a  great  deal  in 


[94] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


i  one's  luck  and  I  believe  also  that  there  are  times  in  our  life  when  we  can 
i  hardly  get  by  without  committing  a  crime  but  it  is  generally  our  own 
fault,  because  we  squander  that  which  we  should  have  saved  when  luck 
\,  was  with  us. 

The  only  way  I  could  ever  get  out  of  a  financial  embarrassment  was 

[  to  go  to  work  at  the  job  or  kind  of  work  offered  and  at  any  wages.     I 

i  am  as  proud  as  any  man  but  I  never  tell  my  troubles  to  other  people  even 

I  when  I  need  money.    I  make  some  other  excuse  for  wanting  to  make  a  little 

i  money.     There  are  few  men  or  women,  rich  or  poor,  who  care  to  listen 

to  those  who  have  hard-luck  tales  to  lay  before  them,  but  if  you  go  to 

a  rich  or  poof  person  and  try  to  show  them  how  they  can  make  ten  to 

twenty  dollars,  while  you  make  one,  that's  the  story  they  will  listen  to 

every  time,  because  most  people  are  willing  to  sit  up  at  night  and  burn 

their  shirt  to  make  a  light  while  they  figure  out  a  scheme  to  get  ten  to  the 

other  fellow's  one. 

Never  tell  the  person  you  are  trying  to  interest  in  anything,  that  your 
profit  is  big,  but  on  the  other  hand  show  him  where  your  profit  is  small 
and  his  at  least  ten  times  as  great  as  yours. 

I  HAVE  PUT  IN  OVER  FIFTY  YEARS  OF  MY  LIFE 
SHOWING  OTHERS 

I  have  put  in  over  fifty  years  of  my  life  showing  other  people  how  to 
get  rich  quick  and  some  of  them  have  made  fortunes  by  taking  my  ad-# 
vice  but  there  are  others  who  failed  and  at  the  time  I  put  the  deal  over  I 
believed  in  every  word  I  told  them  concerning  the  deal.  There  are  many 
changes  and  circumstances  which  come  up  to  prevent  profit  from  returning 
on  our  investments  and  for  that  reason  it  is  much  safer  to  keep  on  the 
selling  side  than  the  buying. 

If  you  can  buy  things  under  the  market  and  sell  quickly  at  a  profit, 
no  matter  if  the  profit  is  small,  keep  selling,  you  can  always  buy,  but  it's 
often  hard  to  sell,  no  matter  how  low  you  make  the  price.  Keep  both 
eyes  on  the  dollar,  they  slip  away  easily  and  slip  back  hard. 

EARLY  LIFE  IN  UTAH 
The  Mormons  were,  I  believe,  the  earlist  homesteaders  and  tillers  of 
the  fertile  soil  of  the  western  plains  and  to  say  they  had  many  obstacles 
in  their  path  is  putting  it  mild.  The  country  was  full  of  wild  beasts  and 
some  very  savage  ones.  Most  of  those  early  settlers  were  brought  to 
Utah  by  that  noble  and  open-hearted  man,  Brigham  Young,  a  man  whom 
I  believe  thought  he  was  inspired  by  God  to  lead  the  poor  of  Europe  into 
a  land  where  they  could  live  in  peace  and  happiness.  It  did  appear  to 
the  writer  that  in  the  beginning  Brigham  Young  was  of  the  opinion  that 
the  United  States  had  overlooked  Utah  and  that  it  was  so  far  away  from 
the  Capitol  at  Washington,  that  the  domain  of  Brigham  Young  would 
never  be  considered  worth  disturbing  and  as  time  went  on  Brigham  Young 
never  stopped  to  think  of  the  coming  of  such  an  enterprise  as  the  Union 
Pacific  Railroad,  but  it  did  come. 

[95] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


THE  WRITER  WAS  EMPLOYED  TO  GO  WITH  A  SURVEYING 

OUTFIT 

The  writer  was  employed  to  go  with  a  surveying  outfit  laying  out 
townsites  and  later  the  same  outfit  set  the  cornerstak.es  to  every  other  sec- 
tion of  land  for  I  believe  twenty  miles  each  side  of  the  main  line  of  the 
U.  P.  R.  R.  1866  and  most  of  1867  the  writer's  duty  was  to  hire  Mor- 
mon labor  as  roadmakers  and  other  jobs  of  labor  and  also  to  purchase 
supplies  from  the  Mormons. 

We  were  not  at  all  welcome  nor  did  the  Mormons  care  to  work  for  us 
or  even  sell  us  milk,  butter  and  vegetables,  because  they  said  we  were  gen- 
tiles and  that  we  were  there  to  steal  their  lands. 

However,  they  were  something  like  most  young  ladies  I  have  met 
during  my  lifetime.  A  little  candy  and  a  lot  of  petting  soon  tamed  them 
so  that  we  were  permitted  to  put  our  hands  on  their  garments  and  later 
we  were  allowed  to  attend  the  Mormon  church,  but  at  first  the  money 
we  put  in  the  hat  was  thrown  out  because  it  was  gentile  money.  We  did 
not  pick  it  up  and  I  hardly  believe  that  the  Mormons  thought  it  had 
the  slightest  value,  because  we  had  nothing  but  greenbacks  and  before 
we  could  get  along  with  those  Mormons,  we  were  compelled  to  bring  into 
camp  Brigham  Young  money.  They  would  look  at  the  picture  on  our 
money  and  say  "that's  not  Brigham  Young  money,"  but  when  we 
showed  them  Brigham  Young's  money,  trjey  often  kissed  the  picture. 

When  we  hired  the  Mormon  men  they  never  inquired  concerning  the 
amount  of  wages  we  were  to  pay  them  and  in  fact  money  was  of  little 
value  to  those  people,  because  they  did  not  trade  in  money.  If  Smith 
owned  anything  Mr.  Hanson  wanted,  they  conjured  up  an  exchange  and 
each  got  what  he  wanted.  They  had  no  jails  or  police  officers  in  the  in- 
terior of  the  country.  I  was  informed  that  the  bishop  was  God  No.  2, 
and  that  Brigham  Young  was  God  N.  1 .  Brigham  Young  was  supposed 
to  be  inspired  by  the  God  of  Heaven  and  he  transferred  the  same  power 
to  the  bishops  and  they  told  the  elders  and  the  people  they  must  obey 
the  rules  of  the  church,  as  such  rules  and  edicts  had  come  direct  from 
Brigham  Young,  and  my  reader,  I  wish  to  inform  you  that  you  could 
not  have  bought  a  crust  of  bread  from  those  people  with  all  the  gold  you 
could  carry,  if  you  had  first  denounced  Brigham  Young  or  even  a  bishop, 
but- if  you  first  spoke  well  of  the  church,  the  elders,  bishop  and  Brigham 
Young,  you  need  no  gold  or  other  money  to  get  what  you  wanted,  ex- 
cept a  wife,  and  if  you  wanted  a  wife  or  a  half  dozen  of  them,  you  must 
first  be  baptized  and  become  a  member  of  the  Mormon  church. 

I  was  called  the  boss  of  our  outfit  because  I  always  paid  out  the  money 
and  while  I  think  of  it  I  want  to  say  that  many  a  Mormon  girl  looked 
good  to  me,  but  they  were  as  wild  as  a  scared  deer.  I  got  a  few  slaps 
in  the  face  for  getting  fresh  with  those  beautiful  girls  and  it  was  a  long 
time  before  one  of  them  said  she  was  not  mad  when  she  slapped  me  in 
the  face.  I  bet  you  can  guess  my  next  move  which  was  to  steal  a  kiss  and 
when  she  returned  the  compliment,  I  said,  "We  are  moving  camp  to- 
morrow, and  if  you  will  marry  me  I  will  join  the  Mormon  church.     But 

[96] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


she  said,  "I  am  now  the  wife  of  a  bishop  who  has  eleven  more  wives  and 
if  he  will  give  me  up,  I  will  marry  you  after  you  join  the  church."  We 
agreed  that  she  should  get  the  bishop  to  free  her  and  that  we  would  then 
go  to  the  church  and  after  I  had  become  a  member  we  would  be  married. 
Later  we  were  about  ready  to  go  to  the  church  when  the  bishop  came 
along  leading  another  beautiful  young  woman  and  the  first  word  the 
bishop  uttered  was,  "Young  man,  I  hear  you  are  going  to  take  one  of  my 
wives  with  you.  I  brought  along  one  more;  you  can  have  her  also.  As 
I  have  ten  wives  left,  you  can  have  another,  if  you  wish."  By  this 
time  my  love  had  vanished  and  I  said,  "Excuse  me,  I  am  backing  out,"  and 
ran  like  a  scared  wolf.  I  met  and  visited  with  other  Mormon,  ladies  after 
that  and  they  often  told  me  most  Mormon  men  had  three  or  more  wives 
and  that  the  bishops  and  elders  were  favored  with  ten  to  fifteen  wives. 
These  ladies  told  me  I  had  made  a  big  mistake  by  not  marrying  at  least 
the  two  which  I  was  offered  because  they  said  I  would  have  been  given 
land  and  a  house,  a  yoke  of  oxen,  a  cow  and  some  pigs  and  chickens,  and 
a  lot  more.  I  have  traveled  a  great  deal  but  have  yet  to  find  a  more  con- 
tented people  than  those  Mormons  were.  Boys  and  girls  were  married 
young  and  if  the  young  man  wanted  another  wife  there  was  one  waiting 
his  call. 

I  was  told  that  the  women  did  most  of  the  farming  and  other  labor- 
ing work,  the  husband  was  more  of  an  ornament,  the  wives  all  wor- 
shipped him,  the  children  were  most  obedient  of  all  children  I  have  ever 
seen  in  my  travels.  It  is  a  pity  that  the  gentiles  were  permitted  to  come 
in  and  break  up  those  happy  homes,  but  they  did  that  very  thing.  The 
gentiles  taught  those  people  that  money  was  a  better  God  than  Brigham 
Young,  and  of  course  many  a  good  Mormon  woman  lost  her  head  and 
happy  home  when  she  allowed  the  gentiles  to  make  her  believe  in  pretty 
dresses  and  the  evils  of  gentile  men. 

I  honestly  believe  that  while  the  Mormon  church  does  not  preach 
or  teach  Brigham  Young  doctrines  at  this  late  day,  there  are  those  who 
would  like  to  see  the  good  old  times  back  again.  I  know  very  little  about 
the  customs  in  Utah  nowadays,  and  am  not  writing  this  to  lead  you  to 
believe  a  young  man  can  go  to  Utah  and  marry  half  a  dozen  young  Mor- 
mon girls,  because  I  know  that  he  would  soon  be  in  jail,  even  if  he  took  on 
the  second  wife,  the  same  law  now  applies  in  Utah  as  we  have  in  other 
states  of  the  United  States. 

My  experience  in  Utah  dates  back  to  the  time  when  Uncle  Sam  said, 
"Keep  away  from  Brigham  Young's  domain."  I  shall  write  more  later 
on,  I  have  much  news  you  have  never  read  about  the  way  the  Mormons 
expressed  themselves  when  they  first  learned  the  Great  Union  Pacific  Rail- 
road was  to  be  built  through  their  country.  Some  of  my  experiences  in 
Salt  Lake  City  would  be  very  interesting  reading. 


[97] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


A  RICH  MAN'S  COMPENSATION  FOR  SAVING  THE  LIFE  OF 
HIS  TWO  GROWN-UP  DAUGHTERS 
I  arrived  by  steamer  at  Eureka,  California,  about  noontime  and  after 
locating,  I  went  to  my  room  to  write  a  few  letters.  After  supper  that 
evening,  I  wrote  a  few  more  letters.  They  must  reach  the  postoffice  before 
10:00  p.  m.,  to  go  out  on  the  steamer  leaving  for  San  Francisco  early  the 
following  morning.  I  went  out  and  mailed  these  letters,  returned  about 
10:00  p.  m.,  and  was  about  to  retire  for  the  night  when  I  noticed  a 
large  building  two  blocks  away  was  on  fire.  Thinking  I  might  be  of  some 
help  in  extinguishing  the  fire,  I  ran  down  the  stairs  and  never  stopped 
until  I  arrived  in  front  of  the  burning  building,  which  proved  to  be  a 
two-story  transient  hotel. 

The  Fire  Department  had  not  arrived,  notwithstanding  the  fact  that 
the  whole  building  was  on  fire  and  about  this  time  the  guests  commenced 
jumping  out,  or  falling  out  of  the  windows.  The  owner  of  the  building 
ran  down  the  front  stairs  and  out  on  the  street  yelling  at  the  top  of 
his  voice,  that  his  two  girls,  or  daughters  were  asleep  in  the  front  room 
on  the  second  floor,  and  were  burning  up  or  would  be  burned  to  death.  I 
made  a  dash  for  their  room,  the  smoke  and  fire  was  then  raging  down  the 
stairway.  I  finally  made  my  way  to  the  top  of  the  stairs  and  broke 
open  the  first  door  I  came  in  contact  with  and  there  found  the  two  young 
women  sound  asleep  and  the  building  was  then  falling,  in  places,  to  the 
ground.  I  got  hold  of  each  girl  by  the  hand  and  dragged  them  out  as 
they  were,  in  their  night  clothing.  As  I  was  dragging  them  down  the  stairs 
their  night  clothes  caught  on  fire  and  only  for  the  fact  that  I  removed 
my  overcoat  and  smothered  out  the  fire,  they  might  have  been  disfigured 
for  life.  One  of  these  girls  was  18  years  and  the  other  20 — and  were 
said  to  be  among  the  most  beautiful  girls  in  Northern  California. 

In  a  moment  after  I  reached  the  street  with  these  girls  they  were  taken 
in  charge  by  friends  and  I  saved  one  more  young  lady  who  had  jumped 
out  of  a  rear  window  into  a  pool  of  water  which  came  close  to  the  rear  of 
the  building.  The  building  was  falling  and  large  parcels  which  were  on 
fire  was  falling  on  this  young  lady  and  had  set  her  hair  on  fire.  She  was 
ready  to  give  up,  she  told  me  afterwards,  when  I  caught  her  hand  and 
dragged  her  to  safety  and  with  all  the  efforts  of  myself  and  others  who 
brought  out  quite  a  few  who  would  have  perished  if  not  aided  to  safety. 
There  were  seven  charred  bodies  found  the  following  morning.  The 
point  I  wish  to  make  in  this  item  is  the  father's  value  he  placed  on  the 
life  of  his  two  beautiful  grown-up  girls,  whose  life  I  saved.  My  overcoat 
was  new  and  cost  me  over  $50.00,  which  was  burned  full  of  holes  and 
would  not  have  made  good  carpet  rags. 


[98] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


The  newspapers  all  gave  me  great  credit  for  saving  these  girls  and  also 
the  other  young  lady.  The  father  of  the  two  sisters  was  said  to  be  the 
richest  man  in  all  that  part  of  the  state.  The  two  young  ladies  passed 
me  on  the  street  several  times,  but  never  once  spoke  to  me.  The  father  also 
passed  me  several  times  before  he  spoke,  but  he  did  finally  stop  me  in 
front  of  the  leading  newspaper  office  and  after  passing  the  time  of  day,  he 
said  "That  was  sure  an  awful  fire,"  and  he  said,  "I  have  often  thought  I 
should  give  you  a  present  for  saving  the  life  of  my  girls,"  and  low  and 
behold  he  did  offer  me  a  present  and  it  was  not  a  cigar  at  that,  yet  he  was 
smoking  one  at  that  time,  but  fumbling  around  in  his  pockets,  he  with- 
drew his  hand,  in  it  was  several  pieces  of  gold,  real  gold  money,  because 
in  those  days  all  money  in  California  was  gold  and  silver  and  while  there 
were  $5.00,  $10.00  and  one  $20.00  in  his  hand,  also  one  $2.50  gold 
piece,  he  handed  me  a  $2.50  piece  and  rushed  the  other  gold  back  into  his 
pocket. 

I  looked  at  the  small  piece  of  gold  and  said,  "My  friend  is  that  the 
valuation  of  your  daughters,  $1.25  each,  and  my  overcoat  which  cost  me 
over  $50.00,  besides  my  other  clothing  ruined?"  The  man  stared  me 
in  the  face.  I  thought  it  about  time  for  me  to  act.  I  grabbed  him  and  did 
not  walk  him  but  dragged  him  into  the  newspaper  office  and  laid  the 
gold  piece  on  the  editor's  table  and  told  the  editor  that  this  villain  gave 
me  all  that  gold  for  saving  the  life  of  his  two  beautiful  daughters.  The 
man  wanted  me  to  let  go  of  him  but  I  did  not  until  the  editor  had  written 
down  my  story,  then  I  asked  my  man  to  sign  it  and  state  it  was  true,  I 
then  requested  the  editor  to  give  the  gold  to  some  poor  widow,  I  then  pro- 
ceeded to  do  my  duty  which  I  had  been  asked  to  do  by  many  who  knew 
I  saved  the  girls'  lives.  I  knocked  the  tar  out  of  my  man  and  tore  his 
clothing  in  rags  and  when  I  could  not  tear  it,  I  used  my  knife  and  finally 
sent  him  on  his  way  looking  like  the  worst  raggedy  man  ever  came  down 
the  pike. 

I  met  him  and  his  daughters  after  that  but  they  ran  across  the  street, 
never  stopped  until  out  of  sight.  I  was  so  well  backed  by  the  people  of  the 
place  that  I  had  about  made  up  my  mind  to  give  each  of  the  girls  a  black 
eye  and  tear  a  few  of  their  garments  into  rags,  I  finished  my  business  and 
went  back  to  San  Francisco  before  I  got  a  chance  to  finish  that  job. 


[99] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


JUST  A  FEW  LINES  OF  ADVICE  TO  YOUNG  LADIES 
Since  I  have  traveled  over  many  seas  and  through  many  countries, 
including  Central  and  South  America,  and  most  of  the  foreign  countries, 
and  at  all  times  and  places,  have  had  plenty  of  honestly  earned  money  to 
spend  and  to  be  frank  I  have  always  been  called  a  "g5od  fellow"  I  have 
no  regret  as  to  money  that  I  have  squandered,  as  some  people  say  about 
me,  because  I  never  have  said  but  little  concerning  my  losses  as  to  whether 
I  lost  my  money  in  a  business  venture  or  by  gambling  or  on  wine  or 
women.  When  I  was  down  and  out  so  far  as  money  went,  I  got  busy 
and  found  some  line  of  work  or  business  enterprise  which  looked  good  to 
me  and  if  I  did  not  have  the  money  to  put  it  over,  I  did  not  tell  the  other 
fellow  that  I  was  short  of  money,  because  I  knew  he  would  say  he  was 
through  with  me. 

The  thing  I  always  did  was  to  try  to  show  the  man  with  the  money 
that  he  cannot  afford  to  take  on  a  partner  only  on  a  commission  basis 
and  right  here  I  want  to  say  that  the  thing  to  do  is  to  find  out  whether 
the  other  fellow  has  the  real  cash  and  to  drop  any  deal  when  the  other 
fellow  tells  you  he  has  no  money  on  hand  but  if  his  name  should  be  con- 
nected with  the  enterprise  he  could  supply  the  money  through  his  friends. 
Such  a  man  or  woman  are  only  trying  to  do  the  very  thing  you  are.  So 
you  do  as  he  would  do  to  you,  drop  him  at  once,  but  do  it  in  a  pleasant 
way  by  saying,  you  thank  him  for  the  attention  and  that  you  will  prob- 
ably see  him  again  very  soon,  and  if  you  believe  he  has  friends  who  you 
might  interest  in  your  venture  it  is  a  good  plan  to  invite  such  a  party  out 
to  lunch  and  take  him  to  the  best  place  you  know  of  and  while  at  lunch 
give  him  one  more  strong  talk  concerning  your  enterprise,  finishing  up 
by  making  a  few  short  comparisons  of  others  who  have  made  large  profits 
along  those  lines  and  before  you  are  through  lunching  your  guest  will 
generally  give  you  the  names  and  addresses  of  every  man  or  woman  he 
knows  but  be  careful  not  to  directly  offer  him  any  profit,  say  only 
"Thank  yc5u,"  and  after  you  have  parted,  that  man  will  say  to  himself, 
you  were  sure  a  "good  fellow"  and  if  he  can  by  any  hook  or  crook  raise 
the  money  to  take  up  your  offer,  you  will  be  called  back  very  soon  and 
when  you  return,  give  him  plently  of  time  to  talk  and  unless  he  is  ready 
to  do  business,  get  away  quickly  and  as  you  are  leaving  he  will  insist  you 
should  tell  him  why  you  are  going  so  soon.  Well,  my  friend,  it  is  this 
way,  I  have  several  other  parties  to  see  and  that  you  may  see  him  again 
soon  and  that  when  you  call  again  you  may  offer  him  a  chance  to  get  in 
on  the  second  floor  and  that  you  have  several  others  who  will  also  have 
to  come  in  on  the  second  floor. 


[100] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 

Now,  my  reader,  that  second-floor  is  not  the  place  this  party  wants  or 
he  would  not  have  called  you  in  and  if  he  can  go  through  with  the  deal, 
it  can  be  closed  on  the  spot  without  your  losing  any  more  time  except  to 
increase  your  interests  by  strategy,  when  the  contract  is  drawn,  and  if  I 
had  the  space  to  spare  I  could  sight  many  deals  which  have  been  put  over. 
As  I  have  stated  above,  and  I,  myself,  have  made  them  where  I  could  not 
have  even  interested  the  party  by  any  other  method. 

A  young  lady  may  know  a  gentleman  she  would  like  to  have  invite 
her  to  a  party  but  she  will  lose  him  unless  she  is  very  shy  when  in  his 
company.  If  he  be  a  real  gentleman  the  more  shy  the  young  lady  appears 
the  more  the  young  man  will  press  his  attention  and  if  the  young  lady 
can  induce  a  real  true  friend  to  say  a  good  word  for  her,  it  is  worth  more 
than  she  could  say  in  a  year. 

The  lady  who  waits  on  the  street  corner  hoping  to  get  a  free  ride  in 
a  passing  auto,  is  sure  inviting  disaster  and  had  better  walk  many  miles 
than  take  such  a  chance,  because  the  men  who  pick  up  men  or  women  and 
offer  them  joy  rides  are  generally  tricksters  and  seldom  have  but  little  to 
say  the  first  time  they  pick  you  up,  but  they  are  formulating  plans  for  the 
second  ride. 

Remember,  ladies,  that  man  is  your  master,  and  God  gave  him  at 
least  fifty  times  the  magnetism  he  gave  you,  man's  wits  is  stronger  and 
more  active  than  yours,  and  that  you  must  prevent  him  from  getting 
you  where  his  pleadings  can  be  repeated,  because  if  you  don't,  he  may  get 
desperate  and  say  you  must  or  he  will  punish  you,  and  he  may  go  the  limit 
to  carry  out  his  threats.  Of  course  the  threats  come  as  a  rule  after  per- 
suasion has  failed.  How  many  times  do  we  read  in  the  papers  about 
girls  with  men  who  they  only  knew  by  the  first  name,  permitting  these 
men  to  escort  them  home  from  a  dance  or  party.  An  introduction  should 
be  complete  or  it  should  not  be  accepted  even  though  it  is  only  for  the 
pleasure  of  a  single  dance  on  the  floor,  a  man's  intention  may  be  good 
when  you  first  meet  him  and  you  may  turn  his  head  and  mind  to  bad  in- 
tentions by  a  slight  mistake  and  by  no  means,  do  not  permit  money  or 
promises  or  even  when  the  real  money  should  be  thrown  in  your  lap,  in 
any  way  influence  you,  if  you  do,  the  man  will  lose  confidence  in  you, 
then  and  there  he  sure  will  never  again  think  of  you  as  he  would,  had 
you  turned  his  inducements  down  flat,  without  giving  them  the  slightest 
consideration.  You  are  not  losing  a  friend  by  dropping  such  a  man,  but 
on  the  other  hand,  you  are  doubling  your  chances  of  making  a  friend 
and  a  man  out  of  a  would-be-scoundrel. 


[101] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


I  am  leaving  out  other  copy,  hoping  that  at  least  some  one  or  more 
young  ladies,  may  be  benefitted  by  heeding  the  advice  offered  above. 

I  have  written  similar  articles  to  this  before  which  have  been  published 
and  I  have  also  received  many  friendly  letters  from  those  who  were  bene- 
fitted. Some  forty  years  ago,  I  published  a  magazine  and  each  month  I 
published  a  letter  of  advice  to  young  people,  which  letters  were  said  to 
be  very  interesting,  quite  a  few  of  my  subscribers  wrote  me  that  those 
letters  were  well  worth  the  subscription  price  of  the  magazine  and  I  now 
call  to  mind  a  letter  received,  after  I  had  sold  the  magazine,  from  a  young 
lady  who  once  was  employed  by  me,  she  said,  among  other  things,  that 
such  letters  of  advice  as  I  generally  published,  were  then  discontinued  and 
she  also  said  she  thought  she  would  soon  get  married  to  a  very  nice  young 
man  who  had  what  appeared  to  be  a  good  business,  but  she  said  this 
young  man  had  refused  to  tell  where  he  was  born  and  where  his  relatives 
lived  and  that  it  would  be  a  great  favor  if  I  would  give  her  a  little  advice. 
So  I  wrote  her,  by  no  means  should  she  marry  a  man  unwilling  to  tell  her 
everything  concerning  his  past  and  the  present  address  and  the  home  of 
his  parents  and  in  due  time  I  received  a  reply  that  she  had  broken  the 
engagement  and  the  young  man  had* announced  he  would  marry  another 
young  lady,  she  said  she  was  glad  of  my  advice  and  that  she  would 
write  me  again  later.  I  believe  now  it  was  but  a  month  or  so  I  received 
another  letter  from  this  same  young  lady,  telling  me  about  the  same 
young  man  having  married  his  second  choice  and  that  he  was  then  in 
jail,  charged  with  bigamy,  that  his  first  wife  and  one  child  had  come 
on  the  ground  and  had  him  locked  up/ that  he  had  plead  guilty  and  that 
he  also  was  living  and  was  married  under  an  assumed  name,  which  of 
course  was  his  reason  for  not  giving  the  location  of  his  parents. 

MY  TOOTSIE  DOG 
My  Tootsie  Dog  proved  to  be  a  real  wonder  dog,  when  returning 
home,  my  wife  and  I  noticed  a  most  beautiful  curly  headed  little  girl  play- 
ing with  a  small  wooley  puppy  dog  inside  the  yard.     We  halted  at  the 
gate  and  requested  the  child  to  permit  us  to  give  the  little  dog  a  once  over, 


[102] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


she  was  very  bright  and  talkative  baby  girl  of  perhaps  three  years,  she 
rushed  up  to  the  gate  and  handed  the  puppy  to  me.  I  soon  discovered 
it  was  of  good  breeding,  I  said,  "Little  girl  do  you  want  to  sell  your 
little  pet,"  her  reply  was  "Do  you  want  to  see  Trixy  and  Trixy's  babies, 
I'll  bring  them  out  so  you  can  pick  out  one  for  $1.50."  I  said,  "Yes, 
bring  them  out,"  so  she  ran  back  to  the  dog  house,  which  was  in  the  back 
yard.  She  soon  returned  with  an  armful  of  little  wooley  dogs  and  Trixy, 
the  mother,  trailing  along  beside  her  little  baby  dags.  They  were  all  very 
beautiful,  but  the  one  I  was  holding  in  my  hand,  I  thought  suited  us  best. 
My  wife  said,  "Give  her  $1.50  and  we  will  take  the  puppy  with  us,"  but 
I  said,  "We  are  not  yet  settled  and  have  no  place  to  keep  him." 

We  had  arrived  at  Los  Angeles  only  the  day  before  and  were  stopping 
at  the  hotel.  The  little  girl  then  ran  into  the  house  with  the  money, 
handing  it  to  her  mother.  The  mother  said,  "Where  did  you  get  it?" 
the  baby  girl  said,  "Mama  I  sold  a  puppy."  "My  goodness,  child,  did 
you  sell  it  for  $1.50,"  "Yes,  Mama,"  the  mother  rushed  out  to  where 
we  were,  handed  the  money  to  me  and  said,  "Those  puppies  are  $25.00 
each,  they  are  pedigreed  dogs  and  the  one  you  have  selected,  we  have 
been  holding  for  $50.00  because  he  is  so  beautifully  marked,"  and  he  was. 
The  only  marks  was  one  cold  black  ear  and  a  .cold  black  ring  around  the 
opposite  eye,  the  rest  of  his  body  was  as  white  as  snow.  The  lady  then 
said,  "Who  are  you  people  anyway,"  I  then  handed  her  my  card  which 
she  read  carefully.  She  said,  we  once  lived  at  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  and  my 
oldest  sister  and  I  went  to  a  big  dressmaking  school  on  the  corner  of  9th 
and  Walnut  streets,  you  look  very  much  like  the  Mr.  Moody  who  ran 
that  school,  "I  am  the  man,"  I  said,  and  she  then  gave  me  a  good  hand- 
shake and  invited  us  into  the  house.  We  accepted  the  invitation  and 
after  a  pleasant  visit  of  a  half  hour  the  lady  picked  up  the  little  dog  which 
was  running  around  the  floor  playing  with  the  little  girl.  She  handed 
me  the  puppy  and  said,  "I  am  pleased  to  have  met  you  once  more  and 
now  I  take  great  pleasure  in  presenting  you  with  this  little  dog  and  without 
any  compensation  whatever,  because  I  know  you  will  give  him  a  good 
home."  I  then  thanked  her  to  the  fullest  extent  of  my  ability  for  the 
pleasant  visit  and  also  for  her  kind  remembrance  of  me  as  her  instructor 
when  she  attended  my  school.  I  gave  the  little  girl  the  $1.50  as  a  present 
and  handed  the  mother  $5.00  in  gold  with  request  that  she  keep  the 
dear  little  doggie  for  us  until  we  had  settled  in  our  new  home. 

We  were  soon  living  in  a  large  house  nearby  where  we  had  been 
presented  with  what  we  both  thought  was  the  most  beautiful  puppy 
dog  we  had  ever  seen.  My  wife  picked  up  a  small  grape-basket  one  after- 
noon and  went  after  our  baby  dog.  When  she  returned,  there  the  little 
fellow  was,  spuatted  down  in  that  small  basket.  Of  course  I  was  glad 
to  see  him  and  while  there  was  a  large  yard  at  the  rear  of  the  house  there 
was  also  a  large  screen  porch.  My  wife  said  "There's  a  mama  cat  on 
the  porch  and  she  has  three  kittens,"  but  she  said,  "It  won't  hurt  to  turn 


[103] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


the  little  dog  loose,"  which  she  did,  and  in  a  moment  he  discovered  the 
mama  cat  and  commenced  barking  at  her.  She  humped  up  her  back  and 
swelled  up  her  tail  and  did  a  lot  of  spitting  at  the  little  intruder,  as  she 
seemed  to  think  of  him,  but  she  did  not  attempt  to  scratch  him,  however, 
she  moved  her  kittens  from  place  to  place  and  the  little  doggie  was  watch- 
ing the  mamma  cat.  I  had  named  our  pet  doggie  Tootsie.  After  Tootsie 
had  grown  a  little  bigger  he  would  have  one  scrap  after  another  with  the 
mamma  cat,  she  never  scratched  him,  but  she  would  get  very  mad  and  of 
course  the  kittens  grew  bigger  and  bigger  and  soon  were  so  big  she  could 
not  carry  them  about  in  her  mouth,  so  Tootsie  would  carry  them  for  her, 
but  when  he  carried  them  he  generally  dumped  them  on  top  of  the  ash 
pile  and  to  tease  mamma  cat,  Tootsie  sometimes  would  jump  at  mamma 
cat  as  if  he  was  going  to  tear  her  to  pieces  and  to  get  away  she  would  run 
up  a  tree,  then  Tootsie  returned  to  the  ash  pile  and  with  his  nose,  cover 
the  kittens  up,  but  the  thing  that  interested  me  was  that  after  scrapping  all 
day  with  the  mamma  cat  when  we  would  go  out  to  feed  our  pets  in  the 
morning,  I  always  found  our  little  doggie  and  all  the  cats  sleeping  to- 
gether, they  would  all  scamper  out  and  eat  together  until  their  little 
stomachs  were  quite  satisfied  and  then  a  quarrel  was  started  to  last  another 
day. 

TOOTSIE  SOON  GREW  UP  TO  BE  A  BIG  DOG 
I  had  put  in  much  time  training  him  and  I  believe  if  he  was  only 
six  months  old  now  he  could  be  sold  for  a  fortune.  I  was  offered  $200.00 
for  him  and  refused  the  offer.  I  preferred  to  give  him  to  my  neice  who 
agreed  to  give  him  a  good  home  and  I  believe  she  did.  I  have  many 
more  dog  and  cat  stories  which  might  be  interesting,  but  I  have  no  more 
space  and  may  give  you  a  few  more  in  my  next  book. 


[104] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


A  $100  IS  THE  PRICE  I  WILL  PAY  FOR  AN  INTRODUCTION 
A  $100.00  is  the  price  I  will  pay  for  an  introduction  to  the  young 
lady  who  just  passed  by,  said  a  young  man  to  me.  "That  is  easy,"  I  said, 
"because  she  and  her  daddy  are  customers  of  mine;  they  both  buy  stocks 
and  bonds  through  my  office  and  Mr.  Johnson  then  handed  me  $100.00 
in  gold  and  said  "I  am  also  one  of  your  stock  and  bond  customers,  and  I 
am  very  well  acquainted  with  the  young  lady's  father."  He  has  told 
me  several  times  that  when  he  has  time  to  spare,  he  will  make  a  visit  to 
your  office,  because  when  he  gets  to  your  desk,  he  enjoys  listening  to 
short  stories,  which  you  often  relate  of  having  seen  and  come  in  contact 
with  while  roving  the  world  over.  Mr.  Johnson  then  said,  "Mr.  Moody, 
you  have  my  hundred  dollars  in  gold,  all  I  ask  is  that  you  bring  about  an 
introduction,  with  the  understanding  that  I  am  to  be  given  a  thirty  minute 
visit  and  if  I  fail  to  arrange  another  appointment  to  meet  the  young 
lady,  the  money  is  yours,"  "Yes,"  but  I  said,  "Mr.  Johnson,  why  do 
you  want  me  to  attend  to  such  a  matter  as  this  and  offer  such  a  large 
compensation  for  a  few  moments  service  when  you  can  get  in  your  car 
and  drive  to  the  young  lady's  home  and  call  for  her?  Don't  you  know 
she  would  grant  you  a  half  hour's  visit  when  you  are  acquainted  with 
her  daddy."  That  may  all  be  true,  but  I  want  a  foundation  laid  and  I 
know  you  will  do  that  also.  I  then  informed  Mr.  Johnson,  he  was 
taking  a  big  risk  because  he  knew  I  was  also  looking  for  a  wife  and  while 
I  might  bring  about  the  introduction,  I  might  also  be  a  competitor.  "Oh, 
yes,"  he  said,  "but  I  am  going  to  trust  you  and  hope  you  will  get  busy 
and  when  I  call  tomorrow  morning,  you  will  have  arranged  an  hour,  or 
time  for  the  introduction  at  the  young  lady's  home,  because  I  wish  to 
meet  her  whole  family  at  their  home."  "Mr.  Johnson,"  I  said,  "what's 
all  the  rush  about  this  introduction,"  then  he  went  on  to  tell  me  that  he 
knew  the  young  lady  was  going  with  other  young  gentlemen,  that  he 
believed  if  he  could  get  a  good  strong  introduction,  that  he  could  win  the 
prize  over  all  comers,  so  I  said,  "Come  in  at  9:30  tomorrow  morning 
and  I  will  tell  you  just  when  I  can  introduce  you,"  "Good,  he  said,  "I 
will  be  on  time."  I  sure  believe  Mr.  Johnson  was  looking  for  a  wife  and 
just  how  I  should  go  about  such  a  matter  was  taxing  my  shattered  brain 
to  its  full  capacity. 


[105] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


Miss  Mary  and  her  dad  were  both  customers  of  mine  and  they  had 
bought  several  thousand  dollars  worth  of  stock  largely  on  my  recommen- 
dation which  stock  had  more  than  doubled  in  value  and  some  of  it  had 
run  up  to  ten  times  the  price  they  had  paid  me  for  it. 

I  finally  made  up  my  mind  to  call  at  the  home  of  Miss  Mary  and  try 
to  buy  her  stock  at  market  price,  as  quoted  that  day.  When  I  rang  the 
door  bell,  however,  dad  came  to  the  door  and  invited  me  in.  After  talking 
about  the  weather  and  the  prospects  of  more  rain  I  handed  dad  a  copy  of 
my  latest  stock  report  which  of  course  was  very  interesting  to  him  and  he 
then  said  if  I  weren't  such  a  busy  man  he  would  ask  me  to  explain  to  Miss 
Mary  all  I  could  as  to  why  these  stocks  were  going  up  so  fast  and  when 
I  said  it  would  be  a  pleasure  to  tell  her  all  I  had  learned  concerning  those 
stocks  and  when  he  had  opened  another  door  Miss  Mary  came  right  up  to 
me  and  after  shaking  hands  she  seated  herself  by  my  side  and  after  looking 
over  the  quotations  she  said,  "I  surely  believe  you  are  the  only  stock  broker 
we  will  deal  with  hereafter."  Then  daddy  spoke  up  and  said,  "Mary  don't 
flatter  the  gentleman  too  much,  as  he  may  come  to  the  conclusion  you  are 
going  to  be  careless  hereafter,  because  it's  not  best  to  allow  your  broker  too 
much  power  when  you  are  trading."  I  then  thought  my  time  had  arrived 
to  look  after  Mr.  Johnson's  interests  and  I  said,  "Miss  Mary,  would  you 
care  to  make  a  permanent  investment?"  There,  now,  dad  butted  in  and 
said,  "That's  personal  and  if  you  are  going  to  turn  this  business  into 
matchmaking,  I  beg  to  be  excused,"  and  as  he  was  about  to  retire  from  the 
room,  I  said,  "Wait  a  minute,  daddy,  until  I  get  an  answer  from  your 
daughter  as  the  next  question  may  interest  you  also."  Mary  then  said, 
"Mr.  Moody,  please  qualify  your  question,  I  do  not  quite  understand 
you."  Then  I  begged  her  pardon/saying  I  would  drop  the  question  and 
ask  her  another.  "Now,  Miss  Mary,  will  you  permit  me  to  introduce  to 
you  at  your  own  home,  one  of  the  finest  young  gentlemen  in  this  city — 
a  gentleman  whom  your  daddy  knows  as  well  as  he  does  me?"  Dad  then 
spoke  up  and  asked  me  who  was  the  gentleman.  "It's  Mr.  Johnson," 
"Yes,  he  said,  I  know  Mr.  Johnson,  if  it's  the  fellow  I  met  at  your  office," 
"That's  the  chap,"  I  said,  and  daddy  then  gave  his  consent  but  he  said  he 
and  his  wife  were  going  to  the  theater  the  following  evening.  I  had  agreed 
to  bring  the  gentleman  to  your  home  tomorrow  evening  at  7:30  and 
you  will  not  leave  home  earlier  than  7:45.  "No,"  he  said.  "Now,  then, 
Miss  Mary,  please  answer  my  last  question,"  and  daddy  left  the  room  for 
a  few  moments,  then  returned  to  learn  Miss  Mary's  decision^  but  she  had 
not  answered.  I,  however,  insisted  on  a  prompt  reply,  then  she  said,  "I 
will  be  pleased  to  have  you  introduce  Mr.  Johnson  at  7:30  p.  m.  to- 
morrow evening."  Now  then,  Miss  Mary,  will  you  agree  to  entertain 
the  gentleman  for  thirty  minutes.  "Sure,"  she  said,  "if  he  is  pleased  with 
my  company,  and  as  mamma  and  daddy  are  going  to  the  theater,  I  will 
do  my  best  to  make  the  evening  a  pleasant  one  for  your  friend."  And  after 
a  few  more  minutes'  visit,  I  bid  them  good  night  and  returned  to  my 
office,  where  I  knew  there  would  be  late  customers  waiting  to  see  me. 

[106] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


Mr.  Johnson  was  on  time  the  following  morning  and  was  pleased  to  hear 
my  report  and  of  course  he  agreed  to  meet  me  at  7:00  sharp  that  evening. 

Before  starting,  however,  I  said  "Mr.  Johnson,  what  can  be  on  your 
mind,  do  you  really  want  Miss  Mary  to  marry  you  at  once?"  "Yes," 
he  said,  "I  have  been  in  love  with  her  for  over  a  year  and  shall  tell  her  so 
before  the  introduction  is  a  half  hour  old."  "Then,"  I  said,  "are  you 
going  to  ask  her  to  marry  you  the  first  time  you  call  on  her?"  "Yes,  that's 
the  very  thing  I  will  do,  and  shall  insist  on  a  speedy  wedding  because  I 
believe  she  is  interested  in  another  young  man  and  I  have  heard  that  Miss 
Mary  has  said  she  would  not  agree  to  a  long  courtship,  because  she  did  not 
believe*  in  it."  I  sure  made  the  introduction  and  it  looked  like  love  at 
first  sight.  Mr.  Johnson  requested  Miss  Mary  to  give  him  an  introduction 
to  her  mother  before  she  went  to  the  theater  and  when  he  had  been  intro- 
duced to  the  mother,  he  said,  "Mother,  would  you  be  pleased  with  me  for 
a  son-in-law.  The  mother  was  shocked,  after  recovering  from  the  shock, 
she  said  "Mr.  Johnson,  my  daughter  is  past  21  years  of  age  and  I  have 
long  since  made  up  my  mind  that  I  would  not  advise  her  in  the  selection 
of  a  husband;"  then  daddy  came  to  the  front  again  and  said  "Mr.  John- 
son was  only  joking,"  saying,  also,  that  he  knew  Mr.  Johnson  well  and 
considered  him  a  most  worthy  young  man  and  that  he  had  a  splendid 
business  and  was  generally  liked  by  all  who  knew  him,  that  his  whole 
family  were  highly  respectable.  There  Miss  Mary  stood  listening,  some- 
times she  appeared  sad,  while  at  other  times  she  was  smiling,  while  I, 
myself,  was  not  much  surprised  at  the  speed  of  Mr.  Johnson,  and  as  my 
$100.00  had  been  fully  earned  on  account  of  the  entertainment  having 
then  lasted  over  40  minutes  and  daddy  and  mamma  had  said  their  time 
was  up  for  them  to  start  to  the  theater,  I  tipped  my  hat  and  said,  "Good 
evening."  Miss  Mary,  however,  stepped  out  into  the  hall  to  hand  me  my 
overcoat  and  whispered  the  words,  "I  may  be  Mrs.  Johnson  soon."  I  said, 
"I  hope  so,  and  believe  you  will  never  regret  closing  the  deal  at  once."  "I 
may,"  she  said. 

At  12:30  that  same  night  Mr.  Johnson  woke  me  up  at  my  home  and 
invited  me  to  his  wedding  at  12:00  noon,  the  following  day.  I  knew  these 
people  for  several  years  thereafter  and  they  had  three  beautiful  children 
and  I  do  not  believe  I  have  ever  known  a  happier  man  and  wife  and  I 
will  say  also  a  happier  family  including  the  parents  on  both  sides. 


[107] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


GOLD  IS  GOLD  WHEREVER  FOUND 
Way  back  in  the  year  1870,  I  was  then  in  the  merchandise  business 
at  Anaheim,  California,  that  is  to  say,  I  was  in  partnership  with  two 
gentlemen.  I  won't  say  other  gentlemen  because  everyone  called  me 
Dan,  while  they  called  my  partners  Mr.  Heiman  and  Mr.  George,  which 
was  the  names  of  my  partners.  We  carried  most  everything  in  stock  which 
people  thereabout  used  or  were  interested  in  and  if  a  particular  customer 
came  in  who  wanted  something  we  did  not  have,  we  took  his  order  and  in 
due  time  we  received  and  delivered  the  goods.  The  people  thereabout  were 
mostly  German  and  they  were  good  Germans.  I  was  informed  that  in  the 
year  1852,  fifty-two  German  families  came  to  America  ^nd  all  of  them 
settled  at  Anaheim;  each  of  these  Germans  bought  twenty  acres  of  land 
and  as  all  the  little  tracts  or  farms  joined,  they  selected  the  enter  of  the 
large  tract  of  land  for  their  townsite,  which  townsite  wa,s  only  twenty 
acres  and  as  they  had  bought  twenty  acres  more  than  was  required  to  sup- 
ply twenty  acres  to  each,  they  donated  the  center  twenty  acres  for  the 
townsite  and  as  fast  as  town  lots  were  sold  they  applied  the  money  to  the 
expense  account  of  irrigating  ditches  and  soon  they  were  all  supplied  with 
plenty  of  water.  They  had  all  brought  along  a  supply  of  grapevines 
because  they  had  lived  on,  or  near  the  banks  of  the  great  river  Rhine 
and  believed  in  raising  grapes  and  all  other  kinds  of  fruit — They  set  out 
these  grape  vine  sprouts  and  the  other  fruit  sprouts  and  they  all  grew 
with  such  surprising  rapidity  that  the  following  year  they  were  able 
to  cut  so  many  more  sprouts  than  they  had  anticipated  possible  and  before 
the  end  of  the  third  year,  each  of  the  fifty-two  Germans  had  his  entire  20 
acres  under  cultivation  and  most  all  in  grapes,  they  then  commenced 
building  their  wine  cellars  which  were  built  on  top  of  the  ground.  The 
fourth  year  they  commenced  making  wine.  The  wine  I  was  told  which 
they  made  at  Anaheim  was  not  as  good  as  the  regular  Rhine  wine  until 
it  aged,  but  they  soon  learned  a  method  of  ageing  it  so  that  they  could 
load  a  ship  with  Anaheim  wine,  which  was  but  one  year  old  and  ship  it 
back  to  Germany  and  sell  it  to  bootleggers  and  they  put  it  up  in  fancy 
bottles  and  shipped  it  all  over  the  world,  selling  it  for  real  Rhine  wine  and 
as  I  was  informed  that  they  could  make  a  gallon  of  wine  at  Anaheim 
for  less  than  2  cents,  there  surely  was  a  good  profit  for  the  grower  when 
he  could  sell  his  entire  output  for  12^  cents  per  gallon  at  the  Anaheim 
Landing,  which  was  but  twelve  miles  away, 

I  could  write  a  book  of  many  pages  of  the  things  which  happened 
during  the  short  time  I  lived  at  Anaheim,  I  may  later  on  give  you  a  more 
detailed  account  of  Anaheim  and  the  good  people  I  met  there. 


[108] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


I  started  in  business  at  Anaheim  on  Christmas  Day,  1869,  and  in  the 
early  part  of  May,  1870,  two  men  drove  up  in  front  of  our  store.  Their 
outfit  was  two  oxen  hauling  a  two-wheeled  cart,  which  was  not  uncom- 
mon those  days,  except  that  the  two  men  were  white  men,  while  those  who 
generally  drove  such  a  team  were  Indians,  or  what  they  call  greasers,  a 
people  who  are  born  under  no  flag,  which  they  care  any  more  for  than 
they  do  for  the  ragged  clothing  they  wore.  The  two  white  men  were  the 
Bailey  brothers,  and  while  their  load  of  merchandise,  as  we  will  call  it, 
was  of  great  value,  they  were  something  like  the  man  who  found  a  white 
elephant  and  did  not  know  what  to  do  with  it.  The  Bailey  brothers 
inquired  of  the  writer  if  he  knew  gold  when  it  was  in  its  crude  state  and 
they  were  informed  that  while  he  had  been  where  they  were  taking  gold 
out  of  the  side  of  a  mountain,  that  if  they  had  gold  in  its  crude  state  and 
wanted  the  writers  opinion  of  what  they  had,  they  might  drive  around  to 
the  back  of  our  store  and  I  would  give  them  my  opinion  of  the  samples 
they  had  to  exhibit  and  when  we  had  halted  at  the  rear  door  of  our 
store,  the  Bailey  brothers  looked  at  each  other  for  a  moment  and  finally 
said,  "Young  man,  I  guess  we  will  take  a  chance  and  show  you  what  we 
have."  One  of  the  brothers  then  set  his  rifle  down,  while  the  other  held 
fast  to  his  Winchester.  When  the  heavy  blankets  were  removed,  my  sur- 
prised eyes  were  looking  at  a  chunk  of  almost  pure  gold  quite  as  large  as  a 
water  pail.  "Yes,"  I  said,  "It's  almost  pure  gold,"  one  of  the  boys  spoke 
up  and  said,  "We  believed  it  was  gold,  but  we  had  never  seen  any  gold  in 
its  crude  state  before  and  now  we  do  not  know  what  to  do  with  our  rich 
find."  I  told  the  boys  if  they  would  set  a  price  on  the  chunk,  I  might 
buy  it  and  give  them  $20.00  gold  pieces  for  it.  "No,"  they  said,  "We 
would  rather  turn  it  over  to  you  and  you  send  it  where  it  can  be  made 
into  bullion."  I  then  told  them  I  would  advance  them  $1,000.00  if 
they  needed  the  money.  "No,  no,"  they  both  spoke  up  at  once,  "What 
we  think  we  want  is  that  you  ship  the  chunk  as  it  is  to  a  reduction  plant 
and  have  it  made  into  bullion."  And  we  did  ship  it  to  Selby  smelter  at 
San  Francisco,  California,  and  in  due  time  a  draft  for  over  $4,500.00 
was  returned  as  a  net  payment  for  the  one  piece  of  gold  which  was  the 
first  discovery  of  gold  of  any  note  in  Southern  California.  I  said,  "Boys, 
if  you  need  money  I.  will  give  you  $1,000.00  for  the  nugget  or  I  will  ad- 
vance you  $1,000.00,"  "No,"  they  said,  "What  we  would  prefer,  is  that 
you  load  several  four  or  six,  four-horse  teams  with  merchandise  and  go 
with  us,  it's  only  about  1  ^0  miles  up  in  the  mountains  and  about  sixty 


[1091 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


miles  from  San  Diego,  California.  They  went  on  to  say  they  had  filed  on 
the  1  60  acres  of  land  and  that  the  place  where  they  found  the  big  nugget 
was  almost  in  the  center  of  the  1 60  acres.  This  land  at  that  time  was  Gov- 
ernment land  and  not  thought  to  be  of  any  great  value,  because  it  was 
too  far  interior  and  very  close  to  the  line  of  Mexico.  There  was  much  fine 
timber  thereabout  and  near  where  the  nugget  was  found  the  timber  was 
large  oak  trees.  There  was  also  a  fine  mountain  stream  of  water  but  a  few 
rods  away  from  where  the  boys  had  'found  the  nugget  while  hunting 
deer  for  the  hides,  horns,  and  the  two  hind  quarters  that  one  of  the  brothers 
killed  a  big  deer  which  fell  but  a  foot  or  so  from  what  he  believed  to  be  a 
rock  and  after  dressing  the  deer  he  was  ready  to  sit  down  for  a  short  rest 
on  the  supposed  rock  and  since  it  had  been  snowing  he  brushed  the  snow 
away  and  noticed  it  was  much  smoother  and  brighter  than  any  rock  he 
had  eer  seen.  He  touched  what  he  thought  was  a  loose  piece  the  size  of 
his  hand  and  rather  thin.  The  scale,  as  I  will  call  it,  seperated  from  its 
resting  place  and  when  he  had  picked  it  up  it  was  so  much  heavier  than  any 
other  rock  he  had  ever  seen.  He  then  thought  his  find  might  be  gold,  so 
he  washed  it  as  best  he  could  with  snow  and  as  it  looked  so  much  like 
pure  gold  he  ran  to  find  his  brother  and  when  they  had  made  a  thorough 
examination  of  the  find,  they  thought  it  worth  while  to  turn  the  large 
chunk  of  gold  over  but  to  their  great  surprise  they  could  not  move  it  on 
account  of  its  weight,  so  they  cut  a  few  sapplings  and  used  them  for  crow- 
bars and  as  the  side  of  the  hill  was  quite  steep  and  more  than  20  feet 
above  the  lower  level  when  they  finally  turned  the  chunck  over,  it  rolled 
down  to  the  bottom  and  almost  buried  itself  into  the  soft  ground.  They 
then  brought  up  their  oxen  and  after  building  a  foundation  on  their 
two-wheeled  cart  they  doubled  up  all  their  ropes  and  threw  them  over 
the  limb  of  a  large  oak  tree  then  made  fast  the  other  end  of  their  ropes 
around  the  big  nugget  and  tied  the  other  end  of  the  rope  to  a  big  chain 
which  was  also  connected  to  the  yoke  of  their  oxen  and  within  a  few  mo- 
ments the  big  nugget  was  settled  down  on  top  of  their  cart.  They 
started  for  Anaheim,  because  there  was  no  wagonroad  to  San  Diego. 


[110] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


After  I  had  told  my  partners  about  the  proposition  the  brothers  had 
I  made  me  they  said,  "Get  ready  and  load  up  your  teams  and  make  the  best 
time  you  can  and  we  will  say  nothing  for  twenty-four  hours,  giving  you 
plenty  of  time  to  get  your  store  open  before  others  arrive."  So  I  at  once 
sent  for  two  of  the  best  four-horse  teams  there  were  in  Anaheim  and  in 
three  hours  we  were  on  our  way  to  the  New  Elderado  and  the  fourth  day, 
at  4:00  p.  m.  we  arrived  at  the  place  where  the  nugget  was  found.  I 
at  once  put  the  six  men  I  had  brought  with  me  to  falling  large  oak  trees 
and  making  shakes  to  be  used  in  building  my  store:  These  shakes  were 
rived  out  with  a  tool  called  a  froe  and  as  they  .were  4  feet  long  and  six 
inches  wide  and  three  quarters  of  an  inch  thick,  I  cut  down  saplings  and 
set  them  in  the  ground  four  feet  apart  and  I  also  set  my  rafters  four  feet 
apart,  then  we  commenced  covering  the  sides  and  roof  with  the  shakes, 
at  4:00  p.  m.  the  following  day  I  was  behind  my  crude  counter  selling 
goods  to  the  men  who  had  just  commenced  to  arrive  to  prospect  for  gold. 
In  the  meantime  the  Bailey  brothers  had  been  busy  laying  out  town  sites 
which  we  named  Julian.  Town  lots  sold  and  re-sold,  at  all  kinds  of 
prices  up  to  $30,000.00  for  a  single  50  foot  lot.  The  Bailey  brothers 
made  a  fortune  out  of.  I  was  really  offered  $10,000.00  for  one  of  my  lots, 
out  of  the  lots.  The  Bailey  brothers  gave  me  lots  which  I  could  have 
made  a  fortune  out  of.  I  was  really  offered  $10,000  for  one  of  my  lots, 
but  I  thought  then  I  would  move  my  store,  or  rather  put  up  a  new  one 
on  this  valuable  lot.  Julian  was  then  but  a  few  months  old  and  had  an 
estimated  population  of  30,000,  and  of  course  a  young  kid,  as  was  then 
thought,  we  would  soon  depopulate  San  Francisco,  because  we  then  had 
a  greater  population  than  San  Diego,  Los  Angeles  and  all  the  rest  of 
California,  as  we  looked  at  it. 


llll] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


The  rich  men  had  already  commenced  coming  to  Julian  from  England 
and  they  were  buying  everything  which  they  could  get  a  price  on.  It  was 
they  who  paid  $30,000.00  for  a  50  foot  vacant  lot  and  it  was  also  they 
who  offered  me  $10,000.00  for  my  corner  lot  and  as  I  of  course  thought 
my  lot  was  of  more  value  than  the  one  they  paid  $30,000.00  for,  I 
stepped  out  and  said  $60,000.00  was  my  price  and  I  might  have  sold  it 
for  $60,000.00  or  more,  but  about  this  time  the  news  went  out  that 
Julian  was  only  a  pocket  camp  and  it  proved  to  be  true,  because  the 
discovery  mine  which  Bailey  Brothers  called  the  California  Mine  and  the 
Hayden  and  the  Estes  and  many  others  had  not  yielded  a  dollar  for  over 
thirty  days,  but  none  of  them  had  given  me  a  hint  of  failure,  notwith- 
standing the  fact  that  Estes  was  my  half  brother,  I  was  kept  in  the 
dark,  until  the  Englishmen  had  got  a  tip  and  after  making  an  investigation, 
simply  packed  their  collar  boxes  and  left  for  parts  unknown  and  within 
48  hours  the  $30,000.00  lot  would  not  sell  for  the  price  of  a  glass  of  beer 
and  of  course  I  packed  up  and  returned  to  Anaheim,  but  I  did  not  lose 
any  money  because  of  the  fact  that  I  had  made  a  large  profit  at  the  be- 
ginning and  had  shipped  into  the  camp  over  a  hundred  loads  of  goods 
which  I  also  sold  at  a  large  profit  and  at  the  time  I  moved,  I  only  had  a 
two-horse  load  to  take  back.  I  remained  only  a  short  time  longer  in 
business  at  Anaheim  and  sold  out.  The  Bailey  Brothers,  I  was  informed 
finally  lost  most  of  their  fortune  trying  to  .find  another  pocket,  or  pot 
of  gold,  as  some  called  it.  I  believe  from  information  I  have  received  within 
the  past  ten  years,  that  one  of  the  Bailey  Brothers  is  still  living  at  Julian 
and  that  the  other  died  some  fifteen  years  ago.  The  country  thereabout 
turned  out  to  be  great  for  raising  a  fine  grade  of  apples  and  also  for  raising 
bees.  I  have  received  several  invitations  to  visit  Julian,  with  the  assurance 
that  I  would  enjoy  my  visit,  because  they  tell  me  my  old  store  is  still 
there  and  that  it  is  taken  care  of  as  a  relic  and  that  the  children  use  it  for  a 
play  house. 

Now  friends,  at  Julian,  I  may,  while  at  San  Diego  this  winter,  come 
and  visit  with  you  a  day  or  so.  When  you  read  this  story,  just  look  at 
my  old  shack  and  you  will  know  who  wrote  this  story,  because  I  am  the 
roving  kid  who  built  the  first  house  at  Julian  in  May,  1870.  I  ask  God's 
blessing  on  you  all,  and  hope  before  the  end  of  1926,,  to  at  least  eat  a 
meal  with  you  and  I  will  then  stand  up  before  you  all  and  prove  I  am 
your  first  citizen  and  surely  your  first  business  man  and  there  and  then 
I  will  take  new  notes  and  write  a  new  story  about  the  good  things  and 
the  good  people  of  Julian,  because  I  have  always  heard  that  there  was 
not  a  bad  kid  among  you. 

May  I  now  bid  you  good  night,  it's  past  12:00  midnight,  and  time 
an  84-year-old-kid  was  sleeping,  don't  you  say  so? 


[112] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


THE  GREAT  AUTHOR,  MARK  TWAIN 
The  Great  Author,  Mark  Twain,  was  also  in  the  west  the  winter  of 
1865  and  1866.  I  met  him  and  his  lovely  wife  at  Cheyenne,  soon  after 
our  outfit  had  returned  and  as  I  have  never  read  anything  about  his 
operations,  while  at  Cheyenne,  I  suppose  it  might  be  worth  while  telling 
you  something  about  Mark's  high  financing  at  Cheyenne.  The  Editor 
sent  me  over  to  the  hotel  to  deliver  a  note  to  the  landlord,  saying  I  should 
wait  for  a  reply  and  while  waiting  for  the  reply  Mark  Twain  came  into  the 
hotel  and  got  into  a  heated  argument  with  the  man  writing  a  reply  to 
the  note  I  had  just  delivered.  Mary  said  he  and  his  wife  had  been  freez- 
ing to  death  in  their  room  for  48  hours  and  that  he  either  wanted  heat  in 
the  room  or  he  wanted  his  bed  moved  into  the  kitchen.  The  hotel 
proprietor  told  Mark  that  he  was  about  out  of  wood,  which  was  the  only 
fuel  there  was  in  those  parts  at  that  time,  but  Mark  says,  "My  friend,  we 
can't  afford  to  freeze  to  death,  when  we  know  you  have  a  redhot  stove  in 
that  large  kitchen  and  plenty  of  room  to  spare,  so  you  get  busy  and  move 
our  bed  into  the  kitchen  or  I  will  get  busy  and  build  a  much  larger 
than  yours  and  I  will  move  all  the  business  across  the  railroad 
track,"  and  Mark  did  get  busy,  within  48  hours,  he  was  out  with  a  long 
petition  asking  business  men  to  subscribe  money  to  help  him  build  a  fine 
hotel,  and  while  the  weather  was  very  cold,  Mark  soon 
had  a  large  crew  of  workingmen  in  evidence  on  the  job.  It  looked  for  a 
while  as  if  Mark  really  intended  to  build  a  large  hotel,  because  the  founda- 
tion which  was  of  stone  and  fully  three  feet  wide,  was  run  up  over  four 
feet,  and  there  was  much  rejoicing -thereabout.  Mark,  so  I  was  informed, 
laid  out  a  new  town  site  and  sold  lots  galore. 

When  I  left  Cheyenne  the  spring  of  1866  our  camp  was  on  Mark 
Twain's  side  of  the  railroad,  but  when  I  returned  to  Cheyenne  many  years 
later,  my  attention  was  called  to  Mark  Twain's  hotel  project.  A  few  others 
and  myself  went  across  the  railroad  track  to  see  to  what  extent  Mark  had 
progressed  with  his  hotel  and  there  it  was  just  about  the  same  as  when 
I  had  seen  it  in  1866,  and  I  was  told  only  a  few  years  ago  that  the  founda- 
tion might  be  viewed  by  any  person  who  cared  to  look  out  of  the  car 
window  when  the  train  coming  from  the  east  was  running  into  the 
station,  or  when  the  eastbound  train  was  leaving  the  station.  I  was_also 
told  that  Mark  made  considerable  money  out  of  the  enterprise,  by  selling 
town  lots  and  the  extra  donations  toward  building  the  hotel,  that  he 
received  several  times  as  much  in  subscriptions  and  donations,  as  he  ex- 
pended in  building  the  foundation. 

I  have  written  this  little  story  simply  to  show  that  high  financing  by 
the  sale  of  worthless  town  lots  dates  back  into  the  Sixties  and  that  the 
people  fell  for  high  powered  salesmen  the  same  sixty  years  ago  as  they 
do  now. 


[113] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 

There's  thousands  of  young  men  now  days,  ages  seventeen  to  thirty 
years  old  who  never  were  spanked  because  they  are  endowed  with  such 
an  overstock  of  intelligence  and  quick  to  tell  their  parents  it  would  be 
a  mistake  to  spank  them,  and  I  believe  a  few  of  these  lads  tell  their  parents 
that  it  is  they  who  should  be  spanked  and  not  the  children. 

I  have  been  an  employer  over  fifty  years.  It's  really  surprising  now 
days  at  the  number  of  young  men  who  claim  to  be  experts.  To  be 
honest  with  these  lads,  I  must  say  that  most  of  them  are  really  exceedingly 
bright.  When  it  comes  to  making  contract  for  salary  or  drawing  account, 
they  tell  one  about  how  much  they  know  but  when  asked  to  prove  it, 
if  you  want  a  job,  then  they  want  big  wages  while  learning  to  do  the 
thing  they  claimed  to  know  how  to  do  and  often  say  they  are  experts 
in  doing  what  they  never  heard  of  before.  Few  men  apply  for  employ- 
ment who  will  say  it's  employment  they  want  and  are  willing  to  prove 
their  ability  before  demanding  big  wages.  It's  the  big  pay  or  wages,  not 
the  job  they  want. 

Boys  you  are  on  the  wrong  track,  take  my  advice  and  tell  the  employer 
you  want  work  and  that  you  will  prove  you  can  earn  a  man't  pay  or 
you  want  work  and  that  you  will  prove  you  can  earn  a  man's  pay.  or 
than  you  are  worth,  will  help  you  more  in  getting  and  holding  a  job,  than 
all  the  recommendations  you  could  carry. 


[114] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


Men  who  demand  big  wages  before  they  have  proven  their  worth  are 
watched  closely  and  will  not  hold  the  job  unless  they  make  good.  Cut 
out  a  lot  of  your  unnecessary  expenses,  cut  out  also  many  of  your  so-called 
friends  who  buy  everything  on  the  installment  plan  and  you  will  soon 
have  a  growing  saving  account,  the  thrill  hunters  will  soon  drop  you 
saying  you  are  not  a  real  fellow.  Some  of  them  will  tell  you  later  they 
were  the  chump  and  wish  they  had  your  bank  account.  You  may  do 
much  good  by  telling  other  young  men  how  much  nicer  it  is  to  know  one 
has  a  growing  saving  account  than  it  is  to  know  one's  debts  are  growing. 
Think  this  over  boys  and  girls  and  help  one  another  to  be  on  the  level 
and  save  part  of  your  earnings,  you  can,  if  you  will,  don't  forget  that 
nickels  and  dimes  son  grow  to  dollars,  if  you  save  them.  It  may  seem 
hard  to  change  from  a  spendthrift  to  a  money  saver,  but  it  won't  take 
long  to  prove  which  system  is  the  best  for  you  to  learn  and  follow  through 
life.  Try  the  saving  system  for  one  year  and  a  thousand  liberal  spenders 
could  not  induce  you  to  change  your  system  of  saving.  Besides,  think  of 
the  difference  in  the  standing  of  your  associates,  they  will  not  be  the  class 
who  get  into  jail  noW  and  then.  On  the  other  hand  they  will  give  you 
a  helping  hand,  because  you  are  on  the  level  and  you  have  your  saving 
account  to  back  you  which  is  the  best  recommendation  any  young  man 
"or  woman  can  offer  when  applying  for  a  position. 

If  you  do  not  believe  me  just  try  it  once  and  the  answer  will  surprise 
you.  My  pen  has  written  the  words  which  turned  many  a  young  man 
and  also  young  women  from  spendthrift  to  the  straight  and  narrow  path 
and  some  of  them  have  thanked  me  for  the  advice.  Now  I  hope  this  ad- 
vice may  help  some  one  who  will  write  me  that  they  have  been  benefitted, 
I  always  answer  letters  written  by  young  people,  no  matter  about  the 
stamp,  I  have  plenty.  The  pen  of  the  author  of  this  book  has  written  the 
above,  see  name  and  address  on  front  of  last  page. 


[115] 


THE     LIFE     OF     A     ROVER 


In  conclusion  I  desire  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that  the  Great 
War  of  the  rebellion  had  much  to  do  with  the  settlement  of  the  Western 
Plains  and  in  fact  the  entire  West. 

Homes  had  been  broken  up,  the  noble  sons  of  the  Nation  or  a  great 
many  of  them  had  given  their  young  lives  defending  the  Federal  or  Con- 
federate Cause  and  I  believe  most  of  those  brave  sons  thought  they  were 
'on  the  right  side.  I  also  believe  if  our  sons  and  daughters  had  been 
educated  in  1860  as  we  are  today  there  would  have  been  no  war,  but 
on  account  of  there  being  no  compulsory  school  laws,  children  grew  up 
to  man  and  womanhood  and  many  of  them  to  old  age  without  being 
able  to  write  or  even  read  their  own  name. 

The  great  and  learned  men  of  this  Nation  called  our  young  sons  to 
war  and  without  explaining  why  they  should  be  asked  to  give  up  their 
lives  to  defend  a  cause  which  they  knew  nothing  about. 

Such  a  condition  could  not  be  brought  about;  at  this  time  because 
boys  and  girls  now-a-days  at  the  age  of  15  years  are  quite  well  read  in 
history  as  was  our  most  learned  statesman  in  1860. 

The  leaders  of  the  Confederate  Cause,  were,  I  believe  fighting  to  retain 
their  fortunes  which  was  invested  in  their  negro  slaves. 

While  Lincoln  was  a  man  who  did  not  believe  in  slavery  and  I  also 
believe  President  Lincoln  to  be  a  man  who  never  once  gave  a  thought  as 
to  making  money  or  wealth  of  any  kind,  but  he  did  believe  in  equality 
to  all  men  and  he  believed  in  protecting  the  original  flag  of  our  Nation 
while  the  seceders  or  the  Confederates  raised  a  new  flag  thereby  challeng- 
ing the  flag  of  our  forefathers  who  had  fought  as  one  man  to  free  our 
Nation  from  a  foreign  foe,  and  they  were  victors  under  the  same  "Old 
Glory"  which  flag  I  hope,  will  float  over  this  Nation  throughout  all  the 
years  to  come — a  flag  which  has  never  lost  a  war — yes,  I  will  say  has 
never  lost  an  important  battle.  Long  may  she  wave  over  the  land  of 
the  free  and  home  of  the  brave. 

Thus  endeth  the  life  of  a  "Rover"  known  in  early  Western  life  as 
"Dan  Moody"  the  Indian  Scout. 

I  thank  you  one  and  all.  When  you  see  me  on  the  screen  don't *forget 
to  say  "Hello  Dan!" 

All  business  communications  must  be  addressed  to  Moody  &  Co., 
Chicago,  111.  All  who  wish  to  hear  from  the  author  personally  will 
please  address  D.  W.  Moody,  Chicago,  111. 


[116] 


PRINTED    INU.S.A. 


WHEN  BABY  CRIES  GIVE  HIM 
MOODY'S  RATTLER 


THESE  ILLUSTRATIONS  ARE  EACH  LIFE  SIZE 


JUST  OUT 
RINGS  LIKE  A  BELL 

Baby  absolutely  refuses  to  part  with  it. 

Agents,  also  Boys  and  Girls  everywhere 

Sell  100  after  School  and  Saturday. 

Children  follow  you  with  money  to  buy  them. 

PROFIT  LARGE 

SAMPLE  POSTPAID  IOC 

D.  W.  MOODY 
2625  Cottage  Grove  Ave.  Chicago,  111. 


WHEN  I  RECEIVED  THE  FIRST  DELIVERY 
of  Moody's  Baby  Rattlers  it  was  decided  that  they  could  not  be  retailed 
at  less  than  15c  or  2  for  25c  and  notwithstanding  the  merit  and  the  large 
demand  which  was  apparent.  The  Larger  Buyers  wanted  me  to  make  a 
lower  wholesale  price  so  the  rattler  could  be  Retailed  for  a  Dime,  10c,  of 
course  I  wanted  the  large  business  in  preference  to  the  small  quantity  they 
were  willing  to  order  at  prices  I  was  compelled  to  quote  at  that  time. 
Some  of  the  many  prospective  buyers  were  employing  large  numbers  of 
Salesmen  and  house-to-house  Canvassers,  they  wanted  the  rattlers  to  be 
used  by  their  sales-people  as  a  door  opener  for  the  house-to-house  agents 
and  as  an  introduction  for  their  Salesmen.  The  Wholesale  price  was  too 
high,  they  said,  and  after  careful  study  I  went  to  the  Firm  I  had  employed 
to  make  the  rattlers  and  assured  them  that  if  they  would  make  a  reduction 
in  the  cost  of  the  item,  I  could  make  my  orders  more  than  Ten  Times  as 
large  as  I  could  at  the  price  they  were  then  charging  me  for  the  Rattlers. 
We  soon  agreed  on  a  substantial  reduction  in  the  cost  to  me. 

I  sent  out  my  new  price  list  reducing  the  Retail  Price  to  10c  and  re- 
duced the  wholesale  price  submitting  it  to  prospective  buyers  who  placed 
their  orders  without  debate.  These  buyers  sent  out  their  samples  and 
soon  returned  with  larger  orders.  They  told  me  that  I  would  soon  be 
selling  over  10,000  Rattlers  per  day.  They  told  me  that  never  before 
had  such  favorable  reports  come  from  their  many  house-to-house  agents 
as  they  were  having  in  favor  of  Moody's  baby  rattler.  It  has  always 
been  the  study  of  those  who  employ  large  numbers  of  salesmen  and  house- 
to-house  agents  to  work  out  a  method  or  scheme  by  which  the  salesmen 
could  induce  the  prospective  customer  to  speak  the  first  word. 

That  Trouble  is  over.  Now  the  Salesman,  when  near  the  door,  shakes 
his  baby  rattler  and  the  door  is  opened  almost  instantly  and  in  amazement 
at  such  a  small  item  making  such  loud  and  pleasant  noise  ring  like  a  real 
sleigh  bell,  the  rattler  passes  to  the  harrd  of  the  prospective  Customer  and 
the  Salesman  offered  a  chair  inside  the  house,  a  small  boy  or  girl  grasps 
the  rattler  in  his  little  hand  and  the  sale  is  made.  Because  no  Parent 
can  induce  the  child  to  part  with  such  a  toy.  Once  they  have  possessed 
it,  the  sale  is  made  and  the  salesman  has  made  a  friend  and  of  course  he 
then  introduces  his  regular  line  and  often  make  sales  which  he  never  could 
have  made  standing  outside  the  door. 

Now  My  Friend  Say  Nothing  about  the  Nominal  Profit  you  or.  your 
salesman  make  on  the  sale  of  the  Rattler  if  it  will  prove  as  valuable  to 
you  and  your  salesman  as  it  has  to  others,  is  it  not  worth  while  making 
a  test  which  can  be  done  at  an  outlay  of  only  a  few  dollars. 

What  I  claim  for  this  little  wonderful  Rattler.  It  is  the  only  Toy  ever 
made  which  will  make  noise  louder  and  clearer  than  ten  sleigh  bells  that 
it  is  the  best  item  ever  made  to  quiet  a  baby  when  cutting  teeth.  It  is 
the  best  introduction  for  house-to-house  agents  ever  made  and  that  it  will 
introduce  a  salesman  to  a  merchant  or  a  Banker  without  the  salesman 
speaking  a  word  until' his  prospectives  start  the  conversation. 


SAMPLE  HATTLER  POST  PAID  ONE  DIME  10c 

Wholesale  prices  quoted  after  you  give  me  an  idea  how  many  agents  and 

sales  people  employed  by  you.  Address 

D.  W.  MOODY  Chicago,  111. 


MOODY'S  NEW  RACER 


Made 


m 


Several 


Sizes 


No.  1  for 
2  to  4  Years 

No.  2  for 
4  to  6  Years 

No.  3  for 
6  to  8  Years 

While  Larger 
Sizes  Are 


Made  to  Order 

Generally  for  invalids  or  grownups  who  want  to  get  out  in  the  fresh 
air. 

The  prices  are  very  low  when  you  consider  the  fact  that  you  are 
getting  the  only  faultless  wagon  ever  made.  The  speed  is  more  than  twice 
that  of  any  other  wagon,  and,  in  fact,  if  greater  speed  is  desired,  simply 
move  the  feet  faster. 

No  other  play  wagon  has  a  chance  as  a  child  entertainer  with  the  one 
printed  above,  then  too  it  is  unbreakable,  being  constructed  of  steel 
which  is  riveted  and  bolted  together  so  strongly  that  it  will  remain  rigid 
and  noiseless  for  years.  Note  the  large  rubber  tired  steel  wheels  which 
make  the  wagon  the  lightest  running,  and  the  foot  protecting  pedal  pre- 
venting loss  of  speed  as  is  true  when  the  foot  slides  off  the  old  styled  pedals. 

THIS  WONDER  WAGON,  as  many  call  it,  was  only  perfected  by 
MR.  D.  W.  MOODY,  the  inventor  of  many  play  wagons  and  carts  for 
the  entertainment  of  children  after  more  than  five  years  almost  night  and 
day  study  and  the  expenditure  of  his  fortune. 

THANKS  that  the  last  word  has  been  said,  and  long  after  the  aged 
inventor  has  been  called  to  his  final  home  he  will  be  remembered  as  having 
left  behind  a  never  ending  remembrance  for  the  coming  generations  to  say 
they  have  not  yet  made  an  improvement  on  MOODY'S  NEW  RACER> 

For  prices  and  terms  to  salespeople  everywhere,  address 


Moody  &  Company 


Chicago,  111. 


'.. 


University  of 
Connecticut 

Libraries 


